Sermon Thoughts at Cedar Hills

A Meaningful Week

2011-05-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

It seems Spring has finally arrived ... for awhile, at least. As I'm tapping away on my computer to you, I'm on the patio of a Peet's coffee place, enjoying a warm breeze and a moment to reflect on a week of diverse experiences. Tuesday was full of Community Connections (which you can read about here). On Wednesday I went to visit a dear older woman, Elaine, who had fallen and been badly injured. I heard that she had some broken bones and was pretty bruised. It turned out to be much worse. X-rays revealed fractures in both shoulders, a wrist, and her ankle. They didn't even mention her nose, because all of the other injuries were so serious. The amazing woman who tended our roses at church until she moved into a senior facility; who cared for all her brothers and sisters when they were sick; and who faithfully folded our church bulletins for more than 12 years - this dynamo of strength and attitude now lay physically quite broken in an air-fillied hospital bed. Though she never had any biological kids of her own, loving nephews and a niece stood watch at her bedside. Swollen and bruised, Elaine's unconscious body rested under white sheets and a light blanket.

I don't like this part of being a pastor. Don't misunderstand - I actually enjoy hospital visits very much. People are more real and open to talk than at almost any other time, and so meaningful conversations are easy and plentiful. What sucks is witnessing the merciless advance of time as it consumes the joy and vigor of people you love. Sometimes in a church like ours, there are too many of these visits too close together. Yet it's also a rich and good time as it was this day. I listened to Elaine's family tell, with great love, story after story about her. They were careful not to let go of her just yet, using the present tense each time her name was mentioned. "Remember that time she scolded you for cutting back that wisteria? Aunt Elaine is so funny."

Soon the surgeon arrived. He brought news of possible surgeries and spoke of possible recovery. The mood brightened, but tough decisions remained. We prayed for wisdom and for Jesus to give insight about what's truly best for Elaine. Later that night I was informed that surgery would take place the next morning.

On my way out of the hospital, I decided to take the long way near the exit where new families take their fresh bundles to waiting cars. Sure enough, as if God knew I needed some hopeful sign of life, there was a dad guiding his wife in a wheelchair as she cradled a tightly wrapped new baby in a blue blanket. I walked slowly. As he went through the automatic doors, dad ran to the car and opened the door, exposing a tightly secured car seat. Mom didn't look up from her bundle. Dad ran back to her, and began to usher them out into the light exclaiming, "Welcome to the outside world!"

Welcome indeed, little man.

I saw Elaine just before surgery the next morning. Surprisingly, she opened her eyes when I said her name. A big, welcoming smile spread across her face. “Hi Elaine. It’s me, pastor Curt.”

“I know who you are. How are you?”

“I’m fine Elaine. How are you doing?”

We talked for a good long time. A good dose of that old spark is still present. We talked about all sorts of things that aren’t really mine to share here. But it was a beautiful time.
I like this part of being a pastor.

Tomorrow (Saturday) I’m taking my own mom to a San Francisco Giants game for her 87th birthday. She told me that her favorite, Tim Lincecum, will be the starting pitcher, and that she wants to get there early to get a free Giants hat they give to the first 20,000 fans. How great is my mom? My oldest daughter, Amanda, will be there too, along with my brother Chris and his girlfriend, and my brother-in-law Mario.

It will be a terrific day.

Thanks be to God for this gift of life.

- Curtis

Knocking in the Rain

2011-05-06T17:57:00.000-07:00

"Ugh! I don't have time for this! WHAM!"

The door slammed in my face as the rain fell gently on my stack of crinkled fliers.

So ended my quickest exchange during about two hours of delivering handouts for Community Connections. I didn't even get a word in before the door crashed shut! Yet what's amazing about that all-too-brief exchange is that it was the only door that was not opened graciously. In fact, when I explained why I was knocking - to invite people to a free dinner where they could get to know neighbors and find out about resources in our community - almost every person was thankful and interested. Below I've summarized some interactions and how my stereotypes were often uprooted. Today's visits took place in a large, lower-income apartment complex nearby.

One older woman opened the door suspiciously, but when I told her the free meal was hosted by our church she said, "Oh, I've always wanted to see what that church looks like inside!" I replied, "Well, now is your chance!" She laughed saying, "I think I'll come."
Two young men in their 20's who looked like they could be college athletes looked intently at the flier I gave them, and then said, "Cool. This looks good. Thanks for letting us know about this!" They warmly extended their hands to shake.
There was a woman in her early 60's, perhaps, who said she attended our church a couple of times last summer, probably while I was on vacation. "I've wanted to go back, but I've been taking care of my roommate for several months. She had cancer." She paused. "I'm sorry" I told her. "How is she now?" As tears welled up in her eyes she said, "She died last week."
One young man in his 20's answered the door and listened as I explained how the event would be an opportunity for neighbors to get to know each other. "Really?" he said. "My roommate and I just moved here and we don't know anyone yet; this would be good." We chatted some more and he lamented that since moving from Medford to attend PSU he hasn't gotten used to the rain. Join the club, huh?
At another apartment a somewhat familiar looking woman answered. As she took a long drag on the stub of a cigarette she said, "Hey. I know you. My boyfriend and I came down to your church at Christmastime and you gave us food." She was right, but I couldn't remember her name. She wondered how receptive people were being to my visits. "Well, it seems like people in apartments are sometimes more interested than people in houses" I told her. She then asked, "Is that because we are all hungry and poor?" I think she might have a point. The economically poor are often more open to building relationships with neighbors because they simply need those connections for mutual support to survive.
Several times I was surprised with how trusting people were. At one apartment a dog barked manically when I knocked. I heard a woman yell something. I couldn't make it out until she yelled it a couple more times. "Come in!" This seemed odd. Come in? I opened the door just a crack but couldn't see anyone yet. So I said, "Hi. I'm dropping off a flier to invite you to a free meal at the church down the hill." She called out, "Okay. I'm sorry I can't come to the door. I just broke my leg and I'm laid up in bed." And yet she was comfortable letting a stranger in her door.

I confess that I really didn't want to distribute fliers today. It seemed too dreary to face wary people. But I was so glad I went out. It was a good day to connect. I can't help but wonder how God might use not only our meal, but also our efforts leading up to the May 17 event. I'm praying that at least 100 people from the community attend. What God does with it all is what's going to be truly remarkable.

- Curtis

Lessons from a Waiting Room

2011-04-28T17:29:00.000-07:00

I’m sitting in the waiting room of the Center for Health and Wellness near the Portland waterfront by the spot where the OHSU tram starts. Our youngest, Malia, is here for an MRI on her jaw to determine what the next step is for treating her TMJ trouble. Though it’s a big deal for a sixteen year old, it’s an easy thing compared to most of what is happening for people in this room today.
The sun is beaming in the window and it’s a beautiful morning outside. Here in the waiting room, things aren't so beautiful, at least for many of those who wait. There’s a man they just brought in on a stretcher, accompanied by paramedics. He’s guided quickly into the back rooms. Others linger in comfortable chairs, watching a large-screen TV that displays pictures of raindrops and butterflies while soothing piano music streams over speakers. Some are here for blood tests, others for bone scans or MRIs. A few people come in alone. Many arrive with a husband or wife who waits while their spouse disappears into the back. An attractive young woman with long brown hair pouring out from under a beige knit cap has come to the window by me to take a picture of the river with her cell phone camera. Her tall husband with jet black hair has already been called in for his scan. When he returns I see that he’s thinner than I first noticed, and his skin is a jaundiced, dark yellow color. He moves slowly like an old man, though I doubt he’s past 30. Nurses or techs come to check on people who have to drink foul liquids before their tests. A grumpy woman tells a nurse that she fears she might vomit if they don't see her soon. Wheelchairs and walkers are pushed by seniors who wear hats to keep their hairless, chemo-ridden heads warm and covered.
Names are called.
“Nancy Kinnamon?”
“Yes.”
“How are you this morning?”
“Fine” says Nancy, though she doesn’t look fine as she maneuvers her wheelchair through the door.
Another door opens. “Charlie Olney?”

The flow of people is constant but thins as lunch nears.
Life seems more urgent, more treasured here. And much more fragile. Smiles and eye contact come easier. Snippets of stories and diagnoses are heard.

These are people who think about their lives just now.

Most aren’t primarily concerned with what other people think; they don’t have time for that. Their actions and interactions are measured, concise. There is a different economy of relationships and energy in this place.

Suddenly a small woman, perhaps in her early 60’s, plops down next to me as I’m typing away on my laptop, and speaks as if we’re old friends.
“Now tell me. How do you type on that thing? How does it work?”
“Well, it works just fine.” I reply, playing along in this different world.
“Can you get Facebook on that?”
“Yes.” Inside I chuckle, wondering what her Facebook page looks like. I turn the screen towards her and show her the Shane Claiborne Facebook page I’ve been reading.
“Is that you?”
“No, he’s got a lot more hair and a much nicer face than mine.”
She touches my arm and laughs.
“Can you watch TV on that?”
“No, but you can watch movies.”
“That's what I want to do. You’re so sweet to show me this.”
We chat about computers for awhile. She pulls out her dated cell phone and proclaims, "This is all I have right now." Her finger hits a button and the battered phone makes a loud chime as she turns it on and shows me the screen. "See, I still have 999 minutes!" She laughs. "Aren't you impressed?"
The door opens and she’s called in for blood work.
A few moments later she bounces out the door again, picking up our conversation as if only a sneeze had interrupted us.
“You see, I can’t afford much, but I want something simple enough for me to learn. I had brain surgery and my short term memory is shit.”
I laugh.
“How are you now?”
“Oh, I’m okay. I come in to get checked every few months to see if everything is fine. I had the surgery because of the seizures. I have epilepsy. They took part of my brain to stop the seizures and I haven’t had one since. But my memory is shit.”
I ask her her name as she gets up to go, and she smiles.
“Alison.”
“I'm Curt. Nice to meet you Alison. I will pray for you.”
“Okay. Thank you so much for talking with me.”
And then she’s gone.

Bill Hybel's Easter sermon comes to mind as I look at the clouds and river flowing by. "We live our lives in the dash” he said. The dash between birth and death. My “dash” started on November 13, 1960 when I was born. The ending date hasn’t come yet for me, but it will. And when it does, what’s left in the middle is the dash of this life.

Curtis Buthe

November 13, 1960 - (Date of Death)

What do we do with the “ - ” in the middle that makes up life? Do we flitter it away with cheap pursuits and distractions? Do we spend our days like a foolish lottery winner who thinks his winnings can never run out? Or do we invest what we’ve been given? Hybels reminded his people that so much of life is determined by what takes place “in an instant.” The instant when a nurse proclaims, "It's a girl!" Or a doctor says, “Cancer.” The instant an employer says, “The job is yours” or a spouse utters, "There's someone else." All of these instants, and what we do with them, make up our lives. They comprise our “dash.”
Thinking of these truths today and sitting here with people who know how to treasure each instant causes me to stop and thank God who gives these gifts. It motivates me to do more with my dash, to make every instant as meaningful as possible.

Teach us to number our days,

that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

What are you doing with your dash?

- Curtis

The Patience of Job?

2011-02-26T10:40:00.000-08:00

You know a Job. Just about everyone does. In fact, as you read this post, your Job is already coming to mind. They experience an inordinate amount of misfortune. Emergency contacts and insurance company phone numbers are posted on their fridge. They know which phone buttons to poke to talk to a real person at those insurance companies. Jobs are regulars on church prayer chains and in sharing times. Sickness, accidents, financial crises are not occasional visitors, but residents in their homes.

No one knows why some people seem to live Job lives. If ever you find yourself thinking, "They must have done something to be in that position" then take another look at the book of Job. It's true that there are consequences to our actions, but suffering isn't, by any means, always a result of some hidden character defect or moral failure. And yet how often do we fall into that judgment trap?

Job's "friends" (with friends like these...) quickly deduced that Job must have done something to deserve such a rotten turn of events. Little did they know that it was the Accuser, the satan, who had been given permission by God to "afflict" Job with any terror he wished, short of death. And that permission presents a whole assortment of problems and questions for those who want to follow a loving God. What sort of a God does that? The ending of Job, when health and wealth are restored and he gets a new family, is hardly satisfying either. I can't imagine a father thinking, "Well this kid's better than the last one anyway. No harm no foul." So where does Job leave us? As a friend recently posited to me, are we simply a part of "...a big experiment and God will decide when he's ready to intervene...?"

This week's message is the final in our four part series, Where's God When Life is a Mess? We will review Job's trials and what he learns from them about God, friends, life. Come to get confused, frustrated, and just maybe, closer to God.
- Curtis

Do You Matter?

2011-02-11T15:03:00.000-08:00

Several weeks ago I had a conversation with a good friend who had recently started a new relationship with God. He grew up with some sporadic attendance in church, but had never embraced the idea that God was that important to his life. I think that many people share that perspective. God can be real and yet not that tied into what my life is about. At least that's what many people think.

Some rotten family events had happened for my friend - the kind that tempt you to lose faith in people, yourself, and God. But instead, he started going to a long-forgotten church from his childhood. I asked him, "Why did you start going to church?" He told me, "I needed more texture in my life" and by that he meant that he sensed his life was not full of much meaning, only a matter of daily duties and less than worthwhile responsibilities. And he had found new texture as he connected with God for the first time in his life. He became connected to something larger than himself.

So I started talking about the "story" God is inviting us to be a part of. "What does that mean?" he inquired. He'd never considered the idea before. I explained that in the bible, people are given the opportunity to join into the unfolding story of God in history - join with him in his plan to restore, recreate, and redeem the world. We talked about how that's still true today - each person has a role to play in a much larger tale, even if it's a small part or one we don't understand at all in our lifetimes.
He thought about that concept for awhile, and then he said something that surprised me.

"That idea makes me feel insignificant."

"Really? Insignificant? What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, the idea that we're just here to play some minuscule little part in God's huge plan just seems ... small to me."

I have to confess that that very same idea is part of what's so compelling about following Christ for me. I already feel small. It comes naturally to me. I don't need God for that. In fact, the more I work and push and struggle to "make a difference," the more I feel like I'm not making much of a difference at all. As I push past 50, I wonder if I'll ever achieve something that's really special. Or, even more, if I'll ever be a decent person deep, deep inside.

At just that point, though, there's a whisper from God who says, "Shhh. Be still, foolish man. Remember, you're not writing the Story. I am. Stick with it. Persevere. Trust. Listen to my voice and you'll fit in the story. You do matter, though you may not see how just now."

My sense of insignificance isn't a problem to God. If there is a larger (redemption) story to tell, it isn't my job to become significant. That's God's concern. In fact, it's his promise: Though my part may be minuscule and apparently irrelevant, there is a hidden meaning to my life - and yours.

So perhaps my friend is right. Finding our place in God's story might just make us feel less important. Maybe that's where God is at last able to plug us into something good.

Jeremiah, who we'll learn about in this week's message, doesn't deal directly with these issues. But I have a feeling that he wondered if all his suffering and efforts amounted to anything. We'll learn about his struggles with God this Sunday.
Check out the song by Andrew Peterson - Fool With A Fancy Guitar.

- Curtis

Where’s God When Life is a Mess?

2011-02-04T12:42:00.000-08:00

Back in 1989-1990 I spent a year doing what's called a "residency" in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at Sutter hospital in Sacramento California. CPE is training not only for becoming a chaplain, but really for being a pastor and walking with people through all of the traumas and troubles that come with life. One woman, whose husband had suffered a severe heart attack and was on the verge of death, sticks out in my mind for the way her faith was rocked by her husband's illness. Mary was a kind woman, in her early 50's, who had always been a dedicated catholic. One afternoon, we stood in a long hallway that connected hospital wings, and talked. She spoke of her fear regarding her husband's condition. I asked her where she thought God was in all that was happening, and she replied something like this:

Mary: I don't know. I don't suppose I've really thought about God much. I've prayed, but that's about it. I think of God as being very distant from all of this. He's God of course, and he's far beyond all of this.

Me: Hmm. Do you have questions for God, or are you frustrated or angry with him? (Though I knew better, I'd often stick my foot in my mouth and "suggest" to people how I thought they might be feeling...)
Mary: Angry or frustrated with God? No. That wouldn't be right. You should never be angry with God.
Me: How do you talk to God, then? What do you say when you're going through a time like this?
Mary: Well, I pray at church. And my church worships only in Latin, so our prayers are in Latin and everything we do is in Latin.
Me: So you understand or speak Latin? That's wonderful.
Mary: Oh no, I don't understand it at all.
Me: You don't understand it? Then how do you know what's going on in worship and what's being said?
Mary: I don't. But I think that's how it should be. It's so different. I don't think we're supposed to understand it all, do you? There's just something about being there with the stained glass, the incense, and the chants and prayers all in Latin. It's so mysterious and holy to me. That's what worship is.

We talked more over the coming days. I shared with Mary how God might be a lot closer than she realized, and how reading the bible in English might be a good way to know God personally. She was intrigued by the idea, as if she'd never considered it before. A tiny hunger for something more from her relationship with God seemed to start. But I don't know if that hunger ever deepened. Her husband went home after a few days, doing better, and that was the last I ever saw of them.

Mary has remained in my mind all of these years because she's stands at the extreme end of how some people view God as so "other," so distant that he is virtually uninvolved in what happens on this earth. Such faith sees God as One who set the world spinning and then pulled away to attend to other matters while we humans fend for ourselves. That brand of faith can be nice for those in religious power who broker knowledge of, and communication with, God. But it has nothing to do with the picture of God we see in scripture. What the bible reveals is a God who is shockingly involved, even when it seems he is not. A God who keeps the world spinning each day; who is kind and forgiving, but also angered at our destructive and selfish ways. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45). Perhaps strangest of all, God welcomes (or at least tolerates) our angst and aggravation towards him.

During the next few Sundays, we're going to look at four stories of people in the bible who shared their heartfelt struggles in life with God. Some cried out to him in pain, others pointed a finger at him in frustration or anger. Some questioned aloud if God had forgotten them altogether, or if he had renegged on his promises. What they discovered about God in the process will surprise you. This week we start with the questions of Habakkuk. Buckle up, it's going to get bumpy.
- Curtis

Blessed Foolishness

2011-01-28T11:17:00.000-08:00

2011 is starting off with a bang.
In many locations around the world, that's a literal bang that's heard. Earlier this month, dozens of Christians in Egypt were killed by bombings which seem to be part of an escalation of persecution around the world. Today news from Egypt has been virtually cut off, as protests have escalated and the citizens of the African nation take to the streets in hopes that their government can be transformed. The protests are spreading like wildfire into neighboring nations like Yemen as well. (Read today's WSJ article on the spread of unrest)

Though there's fear of a radical islamist takeover, most political experts believe there's a good chance that a democratic transformation could take place. A month ago such protests seemed absurd, but with the overthrow of Tunisia's government following a popular uprising, it seems that the climate for change in northern Africa has arrived. Of course, there's no way of knowing how all of this will play out or what it will mean for the millions of Coptic Christians in Egypt who long for an end to persecution and a day of greater religious freedom.

I'm not certain this has much to do with our passage this week (1 Corinthians 1:18-31) or what the sermon is about - "Blessed Foolishness" (ie how the good news about Jesus is seen as foolishness in the world). But at some level I think world events and this week's passage are connected. There's an enduring human hope that things in this world can be different, that justice will arrive, that people and nations can be free. With human systems alone, those hopes are surely foolishness. All the "wisdom of the wise" (vs 19) is foolishness to God. And yet, with God all things are possible - which, ironically, seems like foolishness to "those who are perishing," as Paul says.

Does that mean that we should just sit back and gleefully hope the world goes down the tubes, cheering on the deterioration until at last, when there's no glimmer of hope left, we expect Christ to appear and rescue us all?

Hardly.

God's people, from the time of Abraham until now, have never been called to such fatalism - nor have we ever been "raptured" away from calamity (the Left Behind books were, after all, fiction). Abraham prayed for his loved ones in Sodom, Jonah labored through the flood, Moses brought his people through slavery and through the Red Sea, Joshua lead people through battles into a new land, the prophets taught them how to endure in times of persecution, telling them that one day "these bones will live" (Ezekiel 37). Early Christians suffered persecution but spread and grew because of it. Jesus went to the cross - he endured its shameful death - the ultimate foolish sign of God's great love which redeems and rescues us. In the wisdom of God, there has always been a day of resurrection and renewal - but it always comes after, or through, suffering and pain.

We would be foolish to believe that human systems will change, for the better, through human wisdom alone. The little-remembered fact of the sinful nature teaches us otherwise. But we be even more foolish to think that God is not, somehow, working all things together for his good purposes - and that in his seemingly foolish wisdom he is at work in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Iraq, China - everywhere in our world, with us, to bring about his purposes - and eventually to redeem the world. This is our foolish hope:

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.” Revelation 11:15

- Curtis

Niche

2011-01-22T14:22:00.000-08:00

nichenoun1 a niche in the wall: recess, alcove, nook, cranny, hollow, bay, cavity,cubbyhole, pigeonhole.2. he found his niche in life: ideal position, place, function, vocation,calling, métier, job.
One of the unique things about being a pastor is getting to know people well enough to realize how many people don't feel like they've found their calling in life - their niche. Lots of people have found someplace to work, to serve, and spend their time . . . but most people aren't really sure they've found what they were born to do. I see people all the time who just don't seem to have found something they can give them selves to passionately. There's nothing more satisfying than steering someone in a direction that fits them well and where they come alive.What I've noticed is that, oddly, people don't always have a clear idea of what they are good at doing. We don't recognize our own giftedness. The person who's a gifted leader doesn't see it, so they stay in the background and become frustrated with disorganization. The musician who inspires others with their gift and passion, uses that gift too rarely and wonders why they're not satisfied in their hum-drum job. Perhaps it's a fear of failure or anxiety over being asked to do more than they feel capable of doing. The result is, too many people end up doing what they're not called to do, and just about everyone feels misplaced. In Romans 12, Paul reminds us of a concept that isn't well remembered in our individualistic culture: we are all a part of a much larger Body - the Body of Christ. He writes, "... in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." What's that? Each member belongs to all the others? You've got to be kidding. I'm my own person! As Invictus puts it, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.
Well, according to God, you're not.
In fact, one reason that many of us go through life not sensing that we've found our purpose, our niche, might just be because we haven't stopped to ask God how we fit into his Body. We're like toes without a foot or eyes without a socket; stumbling and rolling around wondering why we just don't belong. This week's sermon will conclude our "Leave a Mark, Not a Stain" series, and we'll study how being a "living sacrifice" actually leads to greater meaning and fulfillment in life.

Leave a Mark, Not a Stain

2011-01-14T21:06:00.000-08:00

Normally, I don't like to watch a movie more than once, but Ana has probably watched Sense and Sensibility at least ten times. I'd rather de-lint my sweaters. There are only a handful of flicks that I can sit through multiple times. One such movie is It's a Wonderful Life (watch it free here), with Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey. It ran on free TV around Christmas, as it often does, and the magic of the classic film hit me all over again. One of my daughters, who happened to sit down with me while it was on, got caught up in in it too.

What's so powerful about It's a Wonderful Life, of course, is that there's some of George Bailey in all of us. You may have forgotten, but George is far from perfect. He struggles with success; he is tempted by money and sexy women; he loses his temper. In the face of evil Mr. Potter and George's own temptations, he valiantly tries to be a good man. Yet he fails, or so he thinks. He becomes so distraught after a colossal failure that he wants to kill himself - an edgy proposition for a movie in 1946. In one pivotal scene, George tells Clarence, a wingless angel sent to help, "I wish I'd never been born" - a very biblical response (see Jeremiah 20:14).

George gets his wish. Clarence tweaks time and space, and George re-enters a world that never knew him. Clarence takes him on a tour through a George Bailey-less town, and all of the people and places that are deficient without his unique contribution. The final scene is one of those moments which is so syrupy sweet that you can't believe it would work, but it does.

We all go through times when we don't see the point of our efforts. We mistakenly think that our failures loom larger than any small contribution to the world. But the very odd, virtually un-verifiable Truth we learn from scripture is this:

You Matter.

I Matter.

We Matter.

Our lives matter - to God; to the Story God is writing in HisStory. It is, indeed, a wonderful life because God takes the trials and errors of our lives and spins them into a Story that is so much greater, larger, and Truer than we realize.

So....if that's the case...how can we enter into the story in the best way possible? That's what this little sermon series is all about. Join us!

- Curtis

Saved for What?

2010-09-17T17:02:00.000-07:00

Last week those who were in worship at Cedar Hills were "introduced to the elephant." You'll have to listen to the sermon if you want to know exactly what that means (listen to it here). It's been a funny week of conversations, following that sermon. Comments have been all over the spectrum from, "That was good. We needed to hear that" to, "The same thing is happening at my brother/sister/cousin's church, so I guess we're not the only ones." Some have cautiously asked, "So, what have people been saying about that sermon?" Even in my own family we've had some interesting and spirited conversations. As if to punctuate the week, I had a long, sad talk with a friend of mine, also a pastor, who is going through difficulties in his church and isn't sure what to do next.

So what this sermon series, Becoming An Outpost for the Kingdom, aims to do is help us rebuild our understanding of what the Church, and our church, is all about. We've had such an emphasis in Christianity for many decades on being "saved" that we don't really know (or haven't considered) what we're saved for. What's the point? It's like all we're taught to do is wait. Wait for the afterlife - in other words we're just hanging out until we die, and then finally something really significant or good will happen. What kind of a God would do that -- desposit us here for 70 or 80 years like we're prisoners on death row, waiting to see who gets pardoned and released into heavenly bliss? That's not what the bible teaches at all, but it's what a lot of people believe.

What the bible does teach is what we started to look at last week: We're here to partner with God in building a new kingdom - or rather restoring the world to the way God intended it to be. We don't accomplish that on our own, but with God's help and with the complete restoration ultimately in God's hands. This week we'll begin to study 7 Objectives that God has, and each are ways that he invites us to partner with him. These 7 objectives begin in our own hearts and lives, and from there they can change our community, our work, our schools - our church - and our world. See you then...
- Curtis

A Ridiculous Command: Love Your Enemies

2010-08-27T15:01:00.000-07:00

This week, I'm preaching the second part of last week's message about Jesus' teaching to "turn the other cheek" and "love your enemies." Luke's version of Jesus' teaching says this,

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Luke 6:27-28

It's really a crazy idea that we're supposed to pray for and bless those we start out hating. Seriously, how often do we do it? It's so unnatural for us on one level, yet there is a rightness to it that stirs something in our souls. "Yes," says that something inside, "the world won't be a different, lovelier place, without forgiveness and love replacing anger and retaliation."

But how? All it takes is a car to cut me off in traffic and poof, something dark springs to life in me. I want justice (!) or, honestly, revenge. If that's a somewhat typical reaction to being less-than-marginally wronged, much less truly hurt, what hope do I have of loving an actual enemy?

Jesus' words there in Luke 6 are more than a simple restatement of "love your enemies;" he's telling us how to do it. And here's what he says about those good for nothing, evil enemies we encounter in life: Do good to them; bless them; pray for them. Just try doing these actions, even when you don't feel like it at all, and see what happens. We'll dig into what these terribly hard actions might mean for us personally on Sunday in worship.

For those of you who know little 7 yr old Daniel in our church, please keep praying for him. His surgery went okay, but he's healing very slowly and he's had some setbacks. He's quite miserable and in a lot of pain, but he needs to move more and breath deeply in order to heal. Pray for Joyce and Dennis too, as their hearts ache for Daniel in this process.

- Curtis

When Heaven Opens

2010-08-06T11:31:00.000-07:00

There are both profound and simple experiences that cause people to say, "That was a glimpse of heaven." Such profound experiences might include the birth of a child (giving birth to, or being present for). Or it might be something as simple as a particularly beautiful sunset or a beam of sunlight breaking through clouds. Though our glimpses of heaven experiences can almost always be explained as natural events, we describe them as glimpses because we have some sense that a pathway or window between heaven and earth opened for a moment. Something special happens in the course of the ordinary.

Jesus' transfiguration in Luke 9 was like that. He takes a few friends on a prayer hike up a mountain, and -Shazaam! - he's changed. We might wonder what exactly happened, there, but the more important question might be, "Why?" Why was Jesus changed in this moment in such a radical way? And why didn't he stay that way? Why was it such a temporary state? That's what we'll look at in this week's message, along with what it says to our faith and our place in the world today. See you in worship!
- Curtis

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

2010-07-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

25th Anniversary in Carmel California

It's odd how quickly three weeks of experiences can evaporate into feeling like they were a dream. This phenomenon seems happen most easily with vacations. Once vacation is over, it's poof, like it never happened at all. This summer I took three weeks; the longest vacation I think I've ever had. Ana and I celebrated 25 years of marriage by returning to Carmel, the same spot we enjoyed on our honeymoon. Despite overestimating how much we would enjoy driving down the Oregon and California coast, the time in Carmel was relaxing and fun. After spending a few days with family and doing a tour of Stanford University with Becca, we drove back home to Beaverton, organized and loaded camping stuff, and trekked back to California's Lake Siskiyou. It's a little hidden gem of a lake near Mt. Shasta with a warm water, huge campsites, and plenty of sun and heat to drive way the dismal memories of the long Oregon winter. We swam, kayaked, read, slept and played. It was a good, low-key vacation. We had time to refocus and reconnect with each other and what's important in life.

Lake Siskiyou fun

Rest easy, this week's message isn't really going to be a slideshow of vacation photos or a long diatribe about camping experiences. Vacation did provide me with an opportunity to disconnect from much of my normal life, and perhaps that's where I reconnected with some important realities. Which is what Jesus also attempted to do for the Pharisees in Luke 12 when he tells the story of the "Rich Fool." He uses the parable to chop through our normal priorities and values and hone in on what's truly important. That's what we'll study together in worship. And don't forget our Party in the Park Saturday at 11 AM!

Some Thoughts on Summer and Purging

2010-06-24T08:43:00.000-07:00

It has actually happened. Summer seems to have finally arrived in the Great Northwest, for more than a few hours. Today, Thursday June 24, is day two of real, unabridged sunshine and warmth. Hal-layy-loooo-yahhhh! It came in the nick of time too; I was preparing to suggest on Sunday that we move the church to the Caribbean.

Inspired by the dumpster party we had to clean up church flood damage last weekend, we ordered our own dumpster (pictured above). It's far larger than we need, but it was the same price as the one half the size. And this is America, so the bigger one seemed the logical option. A dumpster either means you're getting a new roof, or it's a bad sign of having bought into the lies of materialism for too many years. We're not getting a new roof. Hopefully we are cleaning out the junk and tidying up our lives, and not just the garage.

All of this dumpster/tossing out/tidying up stuff has spiritual ramifications, of course. And it's part of what summer is all about: Opening up real and symbolic attic doors, lugging things out of web-filed garage corners and cluttered backyard paths. Cutting down overgrown brush and yanking out wild weeds. It's a time of evaluation and asking,
"Do I really need this anymore?"
Or, "When did this get so bad?"
And sometimes, "Oh my, I've been wondering where this went. I've been needing this for so long."

As important as the evaluation process is, it doesn't really matter unless the junk actually gets tossed out. A few years ago we had a dumpster. We went through the whole house and pulled junk from every room, getting rid of everything we that wasn't good enough to give away or sell. But a couple of days after the dumpster was gone, we realized that we had neglected to toss in the one big thing that we really wanted to get rid of - a mattress under Amanda's daybed that was my brother's before I was born. The disgusting old thing was at least 50 years old and it weighed, no joke, about 100 pounds. At least 30 lbs of that is probably dust and mites, I figure. I hated that mattress. But we had forgotten it and so, to this very day, it has stayed in our house.

What old, mite filled, stained burdens are hanging around your place?

Summer, with warm sunny days, is a great time to pull stuff out into the Light and do some honest evaluation. What needs to be dusted off and saved, or even treasured once again? And what (behaviors, damaging relationship patterns, addictions, habits, burdens, etc) should be joyously and enthusiastically lobbed into the dumpster because they are cluttering life - or damaging - you?

That old mattress is the first thing going in the drop box today. It's going to be great.

- Curtis
(P.S. This post has little, if anything, to do with the sermon this week. Except that self-evaluation and letting things go is often a part, or a consequence, of true rest)

Getting the Most Out of Summer

2010-06-17T09:34:00.000-07:00

There is a certain irony in the timing of this new sermon series we're beginning this Sunday. It's a series about rest, sabbath, and stuff I mention below. It comes, however, at a time of extreme busyness. At Cedar Hills we're cleaning up after some significant water damage and we have a workday planned (this Saturday at 9 AM - hint, hint) to sort junk and toss stuff into a huge dumpster. Along with the cleanup we're gearing up for Vacation Bible School which starts on June 27th - just a week away. Rest seems out of the question. Most of us constantly feel that sense of "There's just too much to do!" far too often.

But maybe that's God's point.

There are always more things to do. Sometimes those things press in so urgently that they simply must be done. But life can't be filled with what Charles Hummel calls, "The Tyranny of the Urgent." Not all the time. God knew such things about us when he planned the cycles of the body. He created us to need sleep and for our slice of the world to go dark for a portion of each 24 hours so we would ... stop. He hard-wired us in such a way that those who simply refuse to rest and play will eventually break down. It seems important to God, then, that we get this right.

So even in the middle of urgent things that are pressing in upon you and me, we're going to start this little message series. I hope it helps take away any misplaced guilt about taking time to slow down, rest, worship, remember God, spend time with family. Recharge. There are many different kinds of retreat or rest are mentioned in the bible. There is the overall concept of Sabbath - which means “cessation” in the Hebrew. There are also great celebrations and feasts, prayer retreats, and other times when people of the bible stopped doing their regular work. This three-part message series will study different rest periods and look at the reasons for them.

So listen to God's wisdom and ... take a break! As if for us personally, the Wall Street Journal has an article today (June 17, 2010) entitled, Why Relaxing is Hard Work. Take a look at it (I snagged their picture - above - too...) and you can even check out their "Are you a workaholic?" quiz linked in the article. Then, for a little over an hour on Sunday, we'll all simply . . . stop . . . and begin to consider God.
- Curtis

Chained for Good: Jeremiah

2010-05-28T10:10:00.000-07:00

I sometimes wonder what the dedicated prophets of the bible would have to say about some of the big name preachers today. Consider some of the top selling books and audio CD's by one of the most famous preachers in the USA today. His works include:

It's Your Time: Activate Your Faith, Achieve Your Dreams, and Increase in God's Favor
Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day
Good, Better, Blessed: Living with Purpose, Power and Passion
Living in Favor, Abundance and Joy
Living The Joy Filled Life (Six Easy Steps To Living A Life Of Victory, Abundance And Blessing)

While I'm certain he has some very good things to share, I can't help but wonder how Jeremiah would respond to advice about Six Easy Steps to Living a Life of Victory. Jeremiah spent a good chunk of his life being hated by his own people, persecuted by those he was sent to save, and tortured for doing exactly what God called him to do. He's known as the weeping prophet.

Imagine a conversation, then, between Jeremiah and a Big Name Preacher (BNP) from today. . .
----------------
BNP: Jeremiah, my friend, you're not living a victorious life. Look at you. You're sad, you're unsuccessful, you're a mess. But I can help. Let me share with you the easy secrets to living a life of victory.
JEREMIAH: Really. Do tell.
BNP: Clearly you're doing this prophet thing all wrong. You'd have favor, abundance and joy if God were pleased with you! You need to activate your faith!
JEREMIAH: I'm about to activate you.
BNP: You see that? That's anger. Let God can turn your anger to action; your sadness to sufficiency; your trials to triumphs!
JEREMIAH: You've got a knack for catchy phrases.
BNP: Thank you. I'm writing a book about that.
JEREMIAH: Of course you are. . . But here's the thing. God told me, the day he called me, that my path with him would be terribly hard. That my work is to warn people of God's coming wrath. This is what he's called me to.
BNP: Of course he didn't. You misunderstood. He doesn't want anyone to be unhappy. He wants to turn your inner Eeyore into a Tigger! It's right here in my book, "Living in Favor, Abundance and Joy."
JEREMIAH: My inner Eeoyore is about to kick your . . . never mind. I have to go. Someone wants to throw me into a muddy cistern. (walking off)
BNP: Read chapter 3 - God Has More In Store!
JEREMIAH: (muttering) What I wouldn't give for a little fire and brimstone right now. . .

----------------

Truly, Jeremiah had a tough row to hoe. So tough, that at one point he curses the day he was born (Jeremiah 20:14) and wished it hadn't happened at all. But in the end, he stuck with the thing God had given him to do. He realized that life wasn't all about him, but about God's purposes and Kingdom. That's a huge thing to remember.

It isn't all about Me.

A good friend reminded me of that this week, when I was lamenting some of those tough rows God gives. We'll see what else Jeremiah has to say to us this week in worship.
- Curtis

Chained for Good: Peter

2010-05-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

I think it must have been very confusing to be an early Jesus follower. It's confusing enough for us sometimes, but these guys had to be constantly saying, "Huh? What's God doing now, for Christ's sake?!" (and, if they used that phrase, they really meant it - not like people do nowadays, who say it lightly and defame the name of Christ - not for his sake at all...but I digress). It would have been confusing because God never seemed to do things the same way twice, even when it would have been quite nice if he had.

Take the Big Three Apostles, for example. Peter, James and John. These guys were Jesus' BFF's. We don't want to think about Jesus having favorites, or if he does we'd like to think it might be us. But the truth is, Jesus always chose these guys to go do stuff with him that no one else got to do. They got to go into the house when Jesus raised a little girl from the dead. They were the ones to go up on the mountain and see him transfigured in glory. They were the ones he asked to pray with him in the garden before was carried away and executed. Again, if I had been there with Jesus I would have been the obnoxious one saying, "Pick me! Pick me! Oo, oo, pick me, Jesus!!" He never would have. He always picked Peter, James and John. Which makes what happens to James in Acts 12 extra confusing. If you read it quickly you might even miss it because it's like a little footnote to what comes next with Peter. But read what happens to James, one of the Big Three friends of Jesus,

It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. (Acts 12:1-2)

Poof. That's it. James is done. There's nothing more said of him. Yet back in Acts 5, all of the apostles were apparently rounded up and imprisoned. They were put in jail by the High Priest and his thugs, but during the night an angel came and sprung them free. So when James again ends up in prison in ch 12, he might have thought and prayed, "Okay, Lord! You know me, your buddy James! Spring me free again!" It didn't go that way, sadly. See how confusing following God can be? And dangerous.

Peter is the next one tossed in the clink (ch 12). Herod sees how happy the Jews are to have James sliced open, so he grabs Peter and puts him in stocks too. I wonder what Peter was thinking the night before his trial and probable execution? The scripture doesn't say. He had experienced miracles and he'd felt God's silence when prayers for deliverance were uttered. Just because we ask God to free us from a prison, it doesn't always mean he will. Which leads us back to the beginning: Following God is certainly confusing. A dangerous adventure. The funny thing is, I don't think Peter or even James would have wanted it any other way. They were content with putting their lives completely in God's hands. For Christ's sake.

This Sunday is both Pentecost and, at CHBC, Camp Sunday. So wear campy, red stuff! The message will look at Acts 12 and how Peter sensed the Spirit's peace and power, even in prison.

- Curtis

Chained for Good: Jonah

2010-05-07T16:46:00.000-07:00

A long time ago I remember hearing a preacher tell a story about a guy in the late 1800's, in English waters, who fell off a ship called the "Star of the East" and was swallowed by a whale. According to the story, the poor guy had very light skin the rest of his life as a result of the whale's gastric acid which bleached him. The story was told to show that yes, in fact, something as amazing as Jonah's story could be true. The unfortunate guy who was whale chum was named James Bartley. The story (see one version here) has been told in many sermons through the years and is still a common one today for preachers who desperately seek a hook to make the more amazing bible stories a bit easier to swallow (insert groan here).

The trouble is, the Bartley story isn't true. The best that historical sleuths have been able to come up with is that the story was fabricated soon after an actual whale was beached and died near the shore town of Gorleston England. The thirty-footer was rather famous and lots of stories circulated about it - including the Bartley story. Eventually, an ambitious taxidermist stuffed the whale and it was displayed in the London Westminster Aquarium. But James Bartley was not found inside.

I'll leave it up to you to decide whether the Jonah story is historically accurate or mythic. I don't have a problem with it being true. If God can create big fish - and you and me - out of a single cell and puff his breath into us to make us alive, then it can't be that hard for him to give a fish a hankering for a Jonah snack and keep the rebel alive for a few days. "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it" the Psalmist says.

What's odd to me is that we squabble over the truth of whether Jonah could live in a fish, but we don't blink an eyelash at how the Ninevites repsond when Jonah shows up. Jonah delivers the "turn or burn" message and they . . . turn. Huh? The arch-enemies of Israel who follow a smorgasbord of other gods drop everything, fast, pray, repent and turn to God because some reluctant fishy smelling loudmouth tells them they're going to fry if they don't turn to God? Seriously? How great of a miracle is that? That's a story that we should cause us to think, "Wow, what sort of a God is this?"

On Sunday we'll think about such amazing truths and hoist more treasure from the depths of Jonah's tale. In the meantime, Netflix has the VeggieTales version streaming online . . .

- Curtis

Chained for Good: John the B

2010-04-30T10:27:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since there's been time to write here, but we're in the middle of a 7 part sermon series about biblical characters who were imprisoned. I have to mention, before I write anything else, that I absolutely KNOW you're going to love the video intro to this week's message. If you've been in worship, you know that each message in this series starts with a story about an unusual prison. This week's is one of the best - really fun (which isn't the way you might normally describe prison stuff). But I don't want to spoil it for you, so you'll have to show up if you want to see the prison story I'm going to share this week. It's great!

Anyway, this is week three in the Chained for Good series, and we're taking a look at John the Baptist who is an interesting guy. (Matthew 11:1-19)

[Part I and II of Chained for Good can be downloaded here]

John's ministry is fairly short-lived and yet Jesus describes him as the greatest of all the prophets. He has an amazing ministry of proclaiming the coming of the Messiah and getting people to look at their lives. But soon after Jesus comes on the scene, John gets tossed in jail for daring to tell Herod that he was an adulterer. Instead of being rescued as some of Jesus' disciples were later, he comes to a grisly end when his head is lopped off to please a bratty dancer (makes a nice painting though, doesn't it?).

If you've ever believed that a radically faithful life lived for God will lead to success and comfort, this guy torpedos that idea. What does John have to teach us then? That's what we'll discover Sunday.

- Curtis

Extreme Makeover

2010-03-11T13:21:00.000-08:00

I have a memorial service this week for a wonderful woman who lived 96 full years: Ida. The last time I saw her was on Friday when she was, quite literally, on her death bed. Her body was rounding the final turn, but her mind was still sharp. The visit consisted of a scripture, a prayer, and holding her hand for a few minutes. She dozed and breathed heavily. She smiled. Then she said, "Well, thank you for coming. It's been delightful!" I knew that meant, "Time to go, preacher man!" But I also had a feeling she was saying that this life had been delightful. Even in those last moments she was dignified and grateful. That's a beautiful lesson. I laughed and she smiled once more. We said our goodbyes on this side of the new creation. Three days later she went home.

A central theme all the way through 2 Corinthians is about Paul’s awareness of his own mortality. He was probably in his mid to late 50's when he wrote the letter, but he knew that there were plenty of people who wanted him dead. Life wasn't exactly safe for him. He writes about, “Treasure in jars of clay...being crushed...outwardly wasting away...earthly tent destroyed....” Yet his awareness of death is always framed within the context of hope in the resurrection and knowing that this life is not all there is; in fact it is a small part of all that life is for the believer.

We are in the infancy of our lives.

Try and think back to when you were leaving elementary school and heading off to middle school. For most, that’s 5th grade, 6th for some. Those first 5-6 years of school, at that point in your short life, seemed like forever. As a 5th grader, you looked back at those little 1st graders and thought, “They’re so little! They’re so young and silly. I’m so big and smart now.” And then you re-lived a similar experience in 8th grade as you looked back on those punky little 6th graders; yet again when you were a senior in high school and you saw those pimple faced freshman walking, deer-in-the-headlight style, down the halls. Those experiences continue, perhaps with less frequency, throughout our lives when we end one stage and begin another. College...our first job....marriage....raising children...taking them off to their first day of elementary school.
Isn’t it likely, then, that we’ll find something similar at the end of this life as we step into the next? I suspect so. Once we’re with Christ, stepping into a new stage of life, we’ll look back on the decades we’ve spent in this “earthly tent” (2 Corinthians 5:1) and say, “Wow. What a child I was! Look at all that lies ahead. I wonder what this new stage will be like?”

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” - 1 Corinthians 13

Paul’s whole point, in 2 Corinthians 5 (our sermon passage this week), seems to be, “Don’t waste the time you've been given in this body. Spend your time on eternal things, meaningful things." The very most meaningful, to Paul, was reconciling people to God. And that’s the topic we’ll be looking at for this week’s message. How does this long-term, eternal perspective of life - and other people - change what we focus on now? How does it change our view of people and their sins, hurts, troubles?
- Curtis

Decisions, Decisions . . .

2010-02-27T15:39:00.000-08:00

It's Lent already. That's the 40 days leading up to Easter which really doesn't seem like it should be as close as it is. I'm beginning some sermons that don't technically qualify as a "sermon series" but there is a common string that winds through the next three Lenten sermons. That common string is "Decisions." Life is full of decisions small and large.

"Will I get out of bed today? .... Oatmeal or cereal?"

"Phone call or email?"

"Should I quit my job?"

I'm suspicious that, like the guy who opts for junk food instead of something healthy, we fill up on relatively unimportant choices and neglect the truly important and less numerous decisions. We ponder what TV show we'll watch, whether to buy a new gizmo and fifty other meaningless choices each day, but we don't bother thinking about whether there's any significant purpose to the day we just completed.

The problem with such a pattern of small choices taking precedence over important decisions is obvious: Life feels meaningless.

What if the solution to this problem is very simple? Could it be that there are perhaps just two or three decisions that require our focus? And, once we honestly make these genuine decisions and live daily in concert with what we've chosen, then everything else will fall into place rather well.

Over the next few weeks we'll look at what these two or three decisions might be, and how they impact every other aspect of life. Check out the weekly question above - I 'd love to read about some of the decisions you have made this week.
- Curtis

We've Got the Power

2010-02-19T16:55:00.000-08:00

A lot of times, when I read a bible passage, I blow through it as if I'm at a buffet. I move right along, looking for the good stuff that tastes best: Morsels of the Word that encourage me, inspire me, comfort me - whatever it feels like I want at the moment. I doubt that's a good way to read scripture. What's missed are the most nutritious parts of the biblical meal.

There's a little appetizer in Ephesians this week that is easily passed over. It's this:

And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

Ephesians 1:9-10

Did you catch that? The "mystery of God's will" is that God is in the process of bringing all things on "heaven and earth... together" under Christ. In other words, that's where everything is headed. This world isn't going down the tubes. It might look that way, but it isn't. God's bringing heaven and earth together and that means that his recreative power is constantly being released all over the place. It's kind of funny that we have a hard time seeing that since it goes on all around us and we take it for granted. Just this week here in Oregon we had a super nice spell of weather and the blossoms started exploding on the cherry and plum trees. Grass began to grow. Leaves poked out of dead looking tree branches. "That's just Spring," we say. It's also part of the regeneration and recreation that God builds into nature. It's like he's tapping us on the shoulder and saying, "See? Heaven and earth are joining. All things will become new." Paul says the Spirit of God is the beginning of our own regeneration - part of heaven implanted into you and me, and yet there's more to come.

Back in Ephesians, after Paul points to this unification of heaven and earth, he prays that the "eyes of (our) heart may be enlightened." Hmm. That's different. Picture your heart with little plastic goggly eyes peering out between your ribs. What are the "eyes of our heart?"

This week I'm finishing up our short series of messages on prayer by looking at this prayer of Paul's. What strikes me most as we've studied some key prayers in the New Testament is how different they are than the way I normally pray. I guess that shouldn't be so surprising - I'm no Paul or Jesus! Yet their prayers are dramatically different than what most of us pray. Part of that difference is due to them praying for many people, not just for an individual or a time constrained situation. But their prayers are also different because they think differently; they have a larger perspective and a bigger view of what's going on around them. In other words, it seems that reality is so much more real then mine. The substance of Paul's prayer and what it means for our lives today is what we'll explore in the sermon.
- Curtis

Forgive us Our Sins As We . . . What?!

2010-02-05T13:46:00.000-08:00

Have you been faced with . . .
   * wanting to forgive, but the person who wronged you denies or minimizes their offense, or
   * knew you needed to forgive but you didn't feel capable of it?

And have you . . .
   * wanted to receive forgiveness, but it wasn't offered, or
   * received forgiveness when you knew it was immensely difficult to the one who offers it?

In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus teaches us one of the hardest prayers for us to say with complete sincerity,

Forgive us our sins

as we

forgive those who sin against us

It's the "as we" that hits us between the eyes. If we were just asking for forgiveness for ourselves - and sure, we could ask God to forgive those who sin against us - that would be one thing. But he ties the two aspects of forgiveness together,

For if you forgive men when they sin against you,

your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

But if you do not forgive men their sins,

your Father will not forgive your sins.

What is there about un-forgiveness that short-circuits God's forgiveness for us? Is it that grace, after all, is somehow earned - or perhaps withdrawn depending on whether we forgive others or not? Or is there something deeper going on? I opt for the second option and that's what we'll discuss in this week's message.

I'll also be sharing a clip from a film that impacted me profoundly when I saw it recently. It's called As We Forgive (trailer here), and it shares the true, contemporary story of Rwandans who were called to forgive those who participated in the genocide of over one million of their brothers and sisters in 1994. If you've ever struggled to forgive something terrible, you'll want to see it. If you need to sense God's forgiveness in new ways, join worship at CHBC this Sunday.

- Curtis

Soul Surgery (& Prayer)

2010-01-29T17:35:00.000-08:00

This week we're starting a three week series of messages looking at prayer. I'll just be straight-up here and confess that prayer has never come easy for me. That's not to say that I neglect talking to God, which I do quite often through the course of the day. But prayer is not something that comes easily to me like breathing, walking or craving a chocolate chip cookie. Perhaps I have spiritual ADHD. Prayer often feels like more effort than it's supposed to be. The father of the Reformation, Martin Luther, supposedly said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours (of each day) in prayer." I can't really imagine that kind of daily prayer focus. When I pray for more than about 20 minutes, I get irritated, bored, and doubtful. I start thinking, right in the middle of talking to the Almighty Creator of Everything, "I've got things to do. Gotta run!" That's not what you want your pastor saying about prayer, is it?

I suspect that there are a lot of other followers of Jesus who are like me. Charles Spurgeon, an English Baptist preacher in the mid and late 1800's, preached 130 sermons about prayer. Is it possible that Spurgeon preached about prayer so often because he knew it's hard for the average person to pray? I long to be someone who can relate to/with God like Moses in Exodus 33, "The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend." How great would that be?

The more I think and even (gasp) pray about my prayer problem, the more I've come to realize that it is my misunderstanding of prayer that's the real trouble. Even though I know better, I still tend to pray as if it's all about me telling God what I think he should be doing. I may couch my prayers in a respectful formula (ie, the old ACTS prayer recipe . . . A=Adoration, C=Confession, T-Thanksgiving, S=Supplication - ah! At last supplication where I get to what I want!), but the truth is, I see prayer as all about me. That, I fear, is the real trouble with my prayer life. And so that's part of the reason I decided to preach on the Lord's Prayer this week (on the left side of this blog you can see the other sermons coming up). I figure Jesus must know how to do this prayer thing pretty well, so that when he teaches us to pray he probably knows what he's talking about. I like how straight forward he is about prayer and that he says, "...don't babble like the pagans because it's really annoying to my Father..." (my paraphrase, but that's actually what Jesus says).

In worship this week we will unpack this most amazing prayer and try to tear off most of our preconceptions and misconceptions, and get a clear view of what Jesus is teaching. One peculiarly fascinating possibility is that Jesus' prayer had a lot to do with the Hebrew Exodus story as the Jews were delivered from Egypt. Could the Lord's Prayer be a later development of praying through our own deliverance from the things that enslave us? That's one possibility we might explore.
- Curtis

What's God Up To? Giving You a Great Body

2010-01-22T15:48:00.000-08:00

I completed my first "spinning" class this morning. Yes, "spinning" sounds like a class that teaches you how to spin around in circles until you puke. In reality, it's a cycling class where you mount a bike like the one in the picture here and follow the leader of the class as they put you through an intense, varied workout. It was a mere 45 minutes, accompanied by the DJ/instructor who spoke to us from her mic and played a variety of songs meant to inspire us. "Sheesh how hard can this be?" I thought. I used to ride almost every day and I even did a few triathlons many years ago . . . before my 19 yr old daughter was born. "I'm in good shape, there's nothing to fear." I thought.

I was wrong.

Things started off well, with the gentle instructor telling us to keep the resistance on the bike low and simply spin.

"I can do this" I thought.

Soon we entered Stage One - our first "hill" as we turned the resistance dial up a few notches and then rose off our seats as though peddling up an ever steeper hill.

"I might be able to do this" I thought.

Stage One, with varying degrees of difficulty, lasted 10 very long minutes. The music, which was helpful to start with, began to annoy me. When the first stage was over, we fell back into our seats and dialed down the resistance. Heavenly.

Barely a minute later Stage Two began and this time we were coached to "dial it up" and "chase the van." I couldn't see a van, which told me that it was way too far ahead and I shouldn't worry about chasing it. But the testy instructor, who evidently could see the van, yelled at us to chase it while increasing the resistance. We backed off for 15 seconds, then dialed it up for a minute, backed off for 15, dialed it up. . . you get the idea. Sweat poured off my head, dripped down my face, and hung on the end of my nose until the salty droplets leapt to their demise on the spinning wheel below. I tried to see how many of the drops I could get to fall directly on the wheel, hoping a wet, lubricated wheel would spin more effortlessly.

"What am I doing here?" I thought.

After a brief low- resistance rest time, we entered the final challenge, Stage Three.
"Alright people!" the instructor barked, "This is it. I want to see you work! I want to see your hands on that dial; bump it up! We're going to do 10 more minutes with 8 rotations; 10 seconds in your seats, followed by one minute on your feet peddling as hard as you can! Ready, 3...2...1.... GO!" The music blared a feverish country tune about a spurned wife, and we peddled furiously.

"Is it possible for a heart valve to simply tear wide open and rupture? How long are those valves good for anyway? They can't last forever." I thought.

On I peddled as the demonic coach told us to "give the dial two more clicks" and "push, push yourself!" It wasn't me that I wanted to push. I reached down as my inner poser made his appearance. He grabbed the dial and twisted it ... except not really - the stationary dial slid through my deceptive fingers.
"Is this what it takes to make me cheat? Spinning?! Do I really need to fake this?"
I looked around at the room of my fellow spinners: A middle aged computer geeky guy who could stand to lose a few pounds, and an assortment of women of various ages and sizes. All of them looked far less fatigued than I.

"I must finish this well." I thought.

And so I did, more or less. I dialed it up for real and soon Stage Three was complete. The cool down felt like a reward. As we stretched, our kind instructor gave encouragement to each participant saying, "Good job everyone! See you next time!"

So what, if anything, does that experience have to do with this week's sermon? Well, it actually occurred to me, between towel wipes, that the Church is not unlike a spinning class. I have worked out on my own for years now, pushing myself hard, getting in good shape, I believed. But most of my workouts have been on my own, alone. I set the standards, the goals, the pace. That's good as far as it goes but the problem is, it doesn't go nearly as far as it should. The class approach has several advantages:

The instructor knows how to bring out the best in class participants.
The combination of an instructor and other spinners pushed and challenged me far beyond my normal limits.
I didn't feel alone, (even though we didn't engage each other much.) We were spinning together.
I noticed good and rotten things about myself that I never see when I work out alone.
I thought about other people and my snap judgements/prejudices changed in subtle ways.
With consistent participation, I will be in much better shape.

I believe that all of the same truths exist when we are participants in the Church. Just substitute God or perhaps certain good leaders for "instructor" and serving/studying/worshipping for "spinning" and you've got a pretty good list of what's good about being a part of a church. There's tons more to being a part of the Body of Christ, of course, but that's a start. We'll explore more on Sunday when we look at 1 Corinthians 12 and Paul's teaching about being a part of Christ's Body.

Now, go spin!

- Curtis

What's God Up To - in Haiti?

2010-01-15T16:13:00.000-08:00

Did you see the front page picture in the Oregonian today? The picture (left) shows a reunion of a daughter and her mother who was, thankfully, pulled from a collapsed building in Haiti. It's only been a couple of days since the terrible quake struck the poor, tiny nation and revealed once again how fragile we humans are. We've quickly been swamped with hundreds of images of dead bodies and broken people searching for loved ones. The ability to send massive numbers of these images and communicate instantly across the globe begins to numb us to the reality of the suffering. Our gut reaction is to feel sorrow and a profound lack of hope. What can we do anyway? Maybe that's why the editor of the paper featured a picture of a successful rescue and reunion on the front page. The image of someone rescued, reunited with family, rekindles hope.
We're lost without hope.

...my soul is downcast within me.

Yet this I call to mind

and therefore I have hope:

Because of the LORD's great love

we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail. - Lamentations 3:20-22

Hope breaks through the numbness that so easily overtakes us - whether we are the sufferers, or the observers. Hope invites us to expect God to act to us, with us, through us - again whether we are the sufferers, or those who can offer help.

The passage for this week's message is from Isaiah 62:1-5 and it is a word of hope for the hopeless. Verse 4 has a message that will be so important for the people of Haiti to hear in the weeks and months ahead:

Never again will you be called “The Forsaken City”

or “The Desolate Land.”

Your new name will be “The City of God’s Delight”

and “The Bride of God,”

for the Lord delights in you

and will claim you as his bride.

Despite Pat Robertson's bizarre ideas about Haiti making a "pact with the devil" (and the devil somehow having the inclination or power to keep "his end" of the bargain and free Haiti from slavery) and calling the quake a "blessing in disguise," we can be assured that God has not forsaken Haiti. Because there is hope, God remembers his people and will be working to repair and recreate. We, as his people, get the privilege of joining in this work with him. Even if we're not going to Haiti, we can send resources to support those who are helping. In the process, our prayers are answered and our hope begins to be restored. Maybe our salvation is tied with our response to God using us to be a part of someone else's rescue and recreation as well. If so, apathy not only spells doom for those we fail to help, but for ourselves as well.

On Sunday we'll study hope and Isaiah 62 as it relates to us personally - how God makes us beautiful. Pray and respond generously for the suffering people of Haiti.

- Curtis

Out of the Box

2009-12-24T11:33:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve. Here it is.
The week has been full for mostly good, significant reasons. There are a couple of things I wish I'd done differently. For example, yesterday I took a van load of food to Trihaven house. It was surplus stuff from our Christmas Box program earlier in the week. Trihaven is the residential facility for adults with mental and/or substance abuse troubles. They invited us to their Christmas party, so that was an opportunity to take the food too. What I wished I'd done differently was to get the word out more effectively so that I wasn't the only one who got to go. I mentioned it to a few people ahead of time, but that really wasn't enough. So I was alone due to my own lack of inviting.

I have to admit I really wasn't looking forward to it. "One more thing to do in an already overloaded week." That's what I kept thinking. Then too, packing up all the food took more time than I planned. By the time I got to Trihaven I was Scrooging (I hereby dub "Scrooging" a genuine verb - ie I Scrooge, you Scrooged, we Scrooge . . . I've been Scrooged). But of course God had other plans. I walked in and some of the residents recognized me, but others hadn't seen me before. "Hi! Who are you? Why are you here!?" one young woman shouted across the room from her recliner.
"I'm Curt..."
"Oh hi Curt! I just wondered who you were. Merry Christmas!"
And so it went. My Scrooginess didn't last long. The residents opened gifts donated by various organizations or purchased by staff, and they showed an appreciation that was profound and heartwarming. "Wow! Another gift for me? This is perfect!"
When the gifts were all opened, we unpacked the van of food and I had a chance to talk with the facilities manager, Jim, the Trihaven Director, Carol, and Denise who counsels residents with substance abuse and anger issues. Carol is a recent immigrant from Cameroon in Africa. She's a strong, faith-filled woman who oozes tough love towards the residents. She's a powerful person; just what Trihaven needs. Jim, who oversees several Sequoia (the mother ship organization) facilities, is one of the most compassionate, good people I've met. He knows all the residents by name and interacts with them as a friend and mentor. I doubt that's in his job description. He walked around with cookie crumbs on his jacket and took pictures of everyone while brandishing a huge grin. "Get over in front of the tree. Big smile! Got it!"

We talked for about an hour about the need for mentors, about Christmas, and about alienation from God and Church. I was so glad I went. It made me thik about my Christmas Eve meditation (and you might here a bit of this stuff again if you come to the Christmas Eve service). We have a tendency to put Christ into our own box, and forget that he won't be kept there. One of my boxes was my own agenda for the day, but Jesus would not be confined to where I thought he should be. He has a knack of showing up in any way he chooses. So why do we try to keep him in the box at all? I pray you have a wonderful Christmas and perhaps I'll see you tonight as we do our best not to box him in.
- Curtis

Preparing for a Good Story

2009-12-18T11:04:00.000-08:00

One of the truly great things about being a pastor is that no two days are alike. It's really a dream job for someone with ADHD - which I don't think I have. But who knows? This week has been full of getting things done for the Christmas Boxes of Love (food from Barnes Elementary above) program and the final preparations for Christmas Sunday & Christmas Eve. And then there's a wedding to work on and a sermon for Sunday... all quite joyous stuff (as I remind myself when I'm grumbling about having too many things to do).

It occurred to me this week that most of life is preparing for something which, when it arrives, is frequently not as wonderful as the actual preparation. I'm not talking about let-downs or things that don't go as well as planned. No, even the best of events are often not as meaningful as the preparation that lead up to them. Our celebrations of Christmas are like that. Christmas day is wonderful, but it's all the preparations that make it worthwhile --- the worship times, the decorating, cookie making, family coming together, presents, charitable projects, etc. It all builds up like a huge life-crescendo ... and then it's over. Christmas afternoon comes, we're stuffed again and passed out on the living room floor with a football game on (or is that just me??)

All of the running and work and preparations are exhausting, but they make the Christmas season meaningful. There's always a story to tell. The elements that make for a good story are the same things that create a good life (for a good book on this idea, try Donald Miller's A Million Miles in a Thousand Years). The good deeds, busy times and people we connect with - these are what make this season a good story for us. In fact, the more we sit around and try to make little cacoons of solitude or entertainment for ourselves, the more our story turns dull and unsatisfying. I think that's why a lot of people suffer from depression - their stories become too small.

As soon as the angel told Mary about the story she would begin to live, she knew it was going to be good. Her words in Luke 1:46-55 reveal that she had some small glimpse of what both her story and Jesus' story were all about. What's powerful is that she seemed to realize (at a very young age), that she was a part of something so much bigger than herself. Her glimpse of a bigger story tells us a lot about our story as well. That's what we'll explore on Sunday.
- Curtis

Joy

2009-12-12T11:16:00.000-08:00

Friday Night, December 11th
(Nope, the video above isn't mine, but it was similar to what I describe below)
I'm at PDX - the airport - writing tonight while I wait for Amanda to come home from college for Christmas break. I ended up being here a bit early, so I'm waiting for Amanda where people walk by security after they get off their planes. It's kind of cool to watch people as they arrive. Most arrivals around Christmas are very joyful.

A young soldier just walked through security, met by a happy young wife and two excited children who look too young to really understand what's happening. All they know is that they get to cling to a dad who's been gone for too long.
A woman just arrived and was met by her pregnant sister. They hug and the happy future aunt bends over to kiss her sister's protruding tummy. They smile and laugh. Towering over them, in the background, is the soon-to-be dad. He gazes at his growing family with great content.
Then there's the grandfather who has been trying to corral his three small grandkids for about 45 minutes. It isn't working and his patience is just about gone. These little monsters have been running around the rows of chairs. They're all ready for momma to get back from a five day trip to somewhere. When she arrives, they sprint to her shouting, "Mamma! You're home! You're back!" Grandad gets the last hug, but no one is happier to see mamma home than he.

I've noticed that romantic welcome-home hugs are long and close; often silent - as if it's finally time for a melding of flesh and hearts. Friend hugs are shorter and people often sway from side to side while talking. Women hold the hugee's face in their hands and step back to take a look at that face. Men may give each other a hug, but men's hugs include hearty slaps on the back.

Joy seems to be the one constant in each of these reunions.

Zephaniah. When's the last time you thought to yourself, "Hey, I think I'll brush up on the old book by Zeph today!" Can you even think of the last time you read anything from this "minor prophet?" Twelve prophets in the Old Testament are called "minor prophets" not because they are less important but because they are simply shorter books. So why don't we read old Zeph more often? Well, it might be because he delivered mostly bad news. And although we seem to love bad news at 6 & 11 PM, we don't like it in the bible. We want "gospel" (good news).

Tucked into the last chapter of all the bad news Zephaniah delivers is, at last, some good news. More than that, it's Joy. Promises that the story won't have a terrible, downer ending. But that God will do what God always does - turn the saddest, most disappointing story into a very joy filled reunion with his people. Joy is what we'll consider in the message this 3rd Sunday of Advent.
- Curtis

Generous Living - But maybe not ...

2009-11-27T11:54:00.000-08:00

It happens from time to time. I get started with the study of a passage for the upcoming sermon and then I realize, "What I thought this passage was all about isn't what this passage is all about." That's happened this week. The passage is from Mark 12 where Jesus spies a widow dropping her two small coins into the temple treasury. An act of sacrifice and generosity, no doubt. It was a significant offering, not due to the amount, but due to the extreme sacrifice. That's the direction I've always taken with this story (retold almost identically in Luke 21). Here's what one commentary says about it:

The Christian lesson of the widow's mites, as relayed in Luke (21:1-4) and Mark (12:41-44), is an enduring testament to the value of faith. A destitute widow has only a few mites to her name, and those she gave selflessly as her donation to the Temple. (Mites were ancient pennies, fairly worthless at the time). Jesus comments that her modest gift was worth more than the ostentatious contributions of the wealthy, for her mites represented all that she had. This virtuous woman had demonstrated true faith in God -- she could not know from where her next meal would come, but she believed that He would provide for her.

But there's a glaring absence of comment in the actual story. At no point does Jesus commend the widow. Jesus actually says she "put in all she had to live on." Was that a good thing? The context of the passage, in respect to the events before and after it, is important too - and very revealing. Another thing: What exactly was the "temple treasury" - where was the widow's money going? These are things I started to wrestle with this week. Have we been reading this story incorrectly all along? And if this other direction for the sermon is right, what does it say to us today? That's always the big question. The answer might be disturbing for me as a "church leader" (I hate it when that happens).

The sermon title is printed, ready to go in the bulletin. But if I could still reprint it, I'd title it differently. Without spilling all the sermon beans already, I'd love to hear what you think the title should be. Share your ideas! And I hope your Thanksgiving was good.
- Curtis

This Will Not Change

2009-11-20T14:43:00.000-08:00

It's not just California... it's the whole world!
- John Cusack's character in 2012, the movie

No, I haven't seen the movie yet. Short on story, long on special effects I suspect. But Hollywood knows we love a good end-of-the-world thriller every few years. It taps into our social anxiety that things are just getting worse and worse. What's next - how about The END?! I had a wonderful lunch with someone today and we were talking about the state of things in the world. They asked the Big Question: "Where's all this going to end up?" Nobody really knows in the short term, of course. My prediction: Things could get a lot worse. Or they might get a lot better. I'm pretty sure I'm right.

This week I'm preaching on Revelation 1. Is this the start of a 26 week sermon series on Revelation, complete with charts and timelines and clear explanations of the "mark of the beast" and identities of four horsemen? Hardly. When I first became a Christian roughly 30 years ago, I dove deep into that stuff. Hal Lindsay's The Late Great Planet Earth scared the crud out of me - and I loved it. Maybe it was the mental rush of thinking I knew some kind of secret about God's timing or plans for the world. Who wouldn't like to have a world-changing secret stashed away? Automatically you're brilliant and everyone else is just a poor, ignorant fool. There's an appeal to that.

In his book (published in 1979), Lindsay wrote that about 70% of the prophecies in the bible had already taken place, and that most of the rest seemed to be on the verge of fulfillment. He then writes:

What generation [would experience the end times predicted in] Matthew 24:34? Obviously, in context, the generation that would see the signs -- chief among them the rebirth of Israel. A generation in the Bible is something like forty years. If this is a correct deduction, then within forty years or so of 1948, all these things could take place. (Late, Great pg. 54)

Lindsay was careful to never predict the "day or the hour" but he seemed to support the idea that it would take place in the next decade or so (the 80's or 90's). And there were many so-called scholars who believed that 1988 would be the most likely year for the rapture and Christ's return.

1988 came and went, and it hasn't happened yet. Which isn't to say that the hope of Christ's return is untrue. It is, in fact, at the very core of our hope in a resurrected Jesus. The Bible is clear that things won't be made completely right - they can't - until Christ returns and transforms everything. Paul puts it this way,

Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Romans 8:20-22 (NLT)

But does that mean we should get giddy when things get bad? "Finally! Wars! Pestilence! Hunger! Cataclysm - YES! Jesus must be about to come back!" No, that's not the attitude that would serve God or our world well. Jesus calls us to be peacemakers, lovers of enemies, blessers of the poor - in other words do the work of recreation in the power of the Spirit until he returns and finishes the job. But I've gotten way ahead of myself.

The message this week won't go that for, most likely. Instead we'll focus on John, who sat rotting on the island of Patmos - and penned the book of Revelation. He has a bead on how we can not only make it through, but perhaps even thrive as God's people in these "in-between times" - no matter how hard they get or what happens along the way.

- Curtis

Dangerous Community

2009-11-13T10:17:00.000-08:00

Acts 4:32-5:11

This week I'm preaching on one of the weirdest passages in the New Testament - the story of amazing love and community! And the story of Ananias and Sapphira (yup, 2 P's). The first story is the happy one to talk about. People caring for and loving each other sacrificially. It says, "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had." Things are going well; love is all around - that's how chapter 4 ends.

Chapter 5: Ananias & Sapphira drop dead after lying about an offering they made to the church. They sell some property and give a chunk of the proceeds to the church to help others. But they lie and tell Peter that they've given the entire amount of the sale, not just part of it. That lie seems to be their downfall. They could have given whatever they desired, or nothing at all. But to lie and say it was the full amount when it was not - that was trouble. More trouble than we might expect too - DEATH!? What happened to grace, mercy, forgiveness? This is confusing stuff. It sort of makes you stop and think about writing that tithe check, doesn't it? (see ending of the video below) What's giving all about? Apparently more than we think.

In the sermon, we'll look at what this odd incident has to do with community and why following Jesus can be so very dangerous. Then we'll share some turkey and fun after worship at the Thanksgiving Dinner!

Let's hope we don't lose our appetite.

- Curtis

Disclaimer: I wouldn't share this in worship, but it drives a certain point of view home - check out this video:

Are You in a Funk? Maybe It's Cultural . . . and Curable

2009-11-06T13:02:00.000-08:00

Deuteronomy 6:1-8; Mark 12:28-34

Message: Uncommon Community

I was reading about a study done at Northwestern University that provides some fascinating findings about individualism, community and mood - especially depression. You can find the actual study HERE but, trust me, it can be depressing just to sort through the pyscho-lingo in these things. (I think that one day they'll do another study revealing that those who do these studies are more likely to be depressed). This wasn't a People magazine pop-poll sort of thing; it was a real, scientific, brain-mapping, chemical, genetic, confusing study.

They looked at genetic markers for depression. It turns out that some people have a specific "short allele - a depression gene," that predisposes them to depression. So one part of the study looked for any sort of correlation between cultures/races that have a bunch of these pesky short alleles. Here's what they found:

Some cultures have a significantly greater genetic predisposition to depression (the short allele)
Some cultures have much higher rates of depression

The study also looked at where cultures are on the spectrum of individualism vs collectivism. In other words, are collective cultures (those that are structured more towards the community than the individual) or individualistic cultures more prone to depression?

Then they smashed all the data into a fat computer and hit the "go" button. Here are the surprising results:

The culture with the genetic marker for depression has significantly lower rates of depression.

The culture that, genetically, should suffer lower rates of depression - is the the one full of depressed people.

Huh? What's going on? It turns out that the cultures with lower rates of depression are the ones that live in greater community. People's lives are tied together more; they inherently value collective harmony, expression and support each other much more. Perhaps community is an adaptive way of dealing with a genetic predisposition towards depression. In fact, something about these cultures - maybe the community they enjoy - heals or prevents depression to some extent. Amazingly, 80% of people from these collective-valuing cultures have the short allele that makes them more likely to suffer depression. Eighty percent!! But they aren't as depressed as the long-allele-ers.

The part you've probably guessed by now is that we in the western cultures - especially the United States - are the ones who suffer the greatest rates of depression, despite the fact that we don't have the big genetic predisposition to depression. Amazing. On the other hand, Asian cultures (and probably other collective cultures) have a high genetic predisposition towards depression, but suffer it far less than we do in the west.

The study raises many questions about cause and effect and what (countless) other factors might be involved. But one clear possibility is that we would all do well to live in greater community.

Hey, wait a minute - doesn't the bible say something like that too? What do you know.

- Curtis

Got Poop?

2009-10-30T11:43:00.000-07:00

Lessons Learned in a Recession # 2: Power & Light

We've all heard the phrase, "Hindsight is always 20/20," meaning that once we live through an experience, it makes more sense or we realize how we could have done things differently. From a faith perspective, the phrase also includes an understanding of how God accomplishes his will and purposes through events that take place. That's one of the great things about the bible stories. We get to see how things end up. It's like we travel through time and see how the pieces fit together, even though things might have seemed pretty lousy for those living through it.

The thing that amazes me about my own limited perspective is that, even though I know God always has purpose for the poop that life brings, I still tend to wallow around in that poop wondering if there really is a purpose and wondering what it could be. It doesn't matter that I've done this poop wallowing hundreds of times before and that, almost every time, I could eventually see how things worked out for the best. Or, at the least, I later came to a point of trusting that God was doing something I couldn't see or sense at the time; that he was at work in hidden ways. I know these truths quite well, but when I'm in the poop, I still wonder and wallow.

This week we study two people who handled life's lousy events far better. Bartimaeus was a blind man who cried out to Jesus even when others told him to shut up. What made him so strong and persistent? And then there was Elisha who was surrounded by enemy soldiers ready to kill him. But he was sure of victory, though he had only one frightened servant with him. He was confident something else was going on. No wallowing with these guys. That means, of course, there are some beautiful things we can learn from them.

Got poop? Bring it on Sunday and we'll all see what God does with it.

- Curtis

Too Close to Home

2009-10-24T07:27:00.000-07:00

Mark 10:17-31

This week we start a new series of messages called, Lessons Learned in a Recession. Part of the plan was for me to intro each message with a short interview of someone who lived through the Great Depression and therefore has a wider view on what's happening in our world now. It seems to me we could use some of that perspective and their wisdom these days.

What I didn't count on was that these wonderful, humble old saints don't really want to be interviewed on video. Each one I've asked so far (maybe it's me!) has said, "Oh, I can tell you some things, but don't turn a camera on!" I need one of those 60 Minutes cameras hidden in a brief case button, but I don't carry a briefcase. I might try just audio interviews, but it's a little more fun to watch people. Anyway, all that is to say that I'll be starting the series off sans video interviews!

I started thinking about this series because everything I've been reading and hearing about the economy says that this "recession" may really be the start of a very long-term shift. We've all been looking at this economic situation as if it were a dislocated shoulder that economists can knock back into place with a few twists and pushes here and there. Painful, but things will be okay once it pops back. Now we're all waking up to the fact that it isn't going to be that way. Things have changed. There's a new normal ahead and it may not look like what we've been used to. We're nowhere near what it was like during the Great Depression, but we also don't know what's ahead.

When we start to realize that things have changed, it might feel discouraging. Dreams of security, college, travel, homes, retirement . . . are wavering and may vanish for many. But there are a lot of very good things that come out of such a shift away from our past experience of super-abundance. For instance we start to realize our interdependence and our dependence on God (hopefully). Along with new perspectives, we'll be studying some bible passages and stories that give us insight about better ways to live; what we can learn; what's important now. I hope you'll do more than just listen to these messages. Part of the lesson we're already learning is lean times mean we need each other more than ever. So share your thoughts and wisdom! And watch out, I may have a video camera rolling.

- Curtis

Doing Something Right

2009-10-15T11:52:00.000-07:00

(Take the "evil" poll at the bottom of this post!)
Each week Garrison Keillor begins his weekly radio address with the words, "Well, it's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon Minnesota, my home town out there on the edge of the prairie..."

If this were an audio podcast I might start it with similar words, but instead of "quiet" I'd have to switch the "e" and the "t" - saying instead, "It's been quite a week in Cedar Hills..."

Most of you have heard that the church building was slammed into by a 20 yr. old young man who had been drinking heavily. His car was totaled, but fortunately he was not seriously hurt and no one was in the building at the time. It happened 11:15 Sunday night. The building has stood up well. There's a good sized hole that impacts 4 different rooms and some minor structural damage that we're having both contractors and structural engineers deal with. There are ongoing messes to clean up. But it could have been much worse - for us and especially for the young man who made some serious mistakes. I'm heading out today to get a copy of the police report and see if I can can contact him or perhaps visit him. Without exception, the people in our church family have expressed concern for him and hope we can make a positive, course-altering impact upon his life. So pray for openings into his life.

I can't help but wonder how that event might be related to something much more wonderful we were a part of the day before, Saturday October 10th. On Saturday about 12-14 people from Cedar Hills joined with hundreds of other volunteers from 20 Beaverton Churches to form Compassion Beaverton - a free clinic for uninsured people who needed medical or dental care. It was an amazing day! I've posted a video here on Youtube (above) of my perspective as I traveled around the clinic as a "flow" person - helping people fill out the right intake forms and then move along through the different steps in the process. Though there were hundreds of people who didn't get everything they needed, and many who were not able to be helped at all - still, there was a tremendous atmosphere of gratitude, grace and mercy that filled the air. God as tangibly present in the people serving and in those being served. It was a privilege to be a part of the day.

Now I'm not one to find Satan under every rock and behind every tree. But I do know that evil is personal; Satan is real. At times we credit him with too much power and, in the process, give him more power over us. Jesus acknowledged him, but never once feared him. More importantly, he overcame Satan and defeated his kingdom. And if Christ lives in us through the Spirit, there's no reason we should see evil differently. So when this young man took a terribly wrong turn in his life and smashed into our church, I don't know whether it is his own personal demons that were at work, or a sign that we're doing something right as a church family and Satan isn't pleased. Maybe it's both. Really, I don't know that it matters. It just means we have to stick with God, stay on the course he sets for us, extend forgiveness and Jesus' redemption to the young man, and pray that evil is bound and powerless. Then we get to see the old story retold in our lives: Evil defeated; God's glory shining brightly. That's what I'm counting on.

Friends, when life gets really difficult, don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.

So if you find life difficult because you're doing what God said, take it in stride. Trust him. He knows what he's doing, and he'll keep on doing it.

1 Peter 4:12-13; 19 (The Message translation)

Finally, I'm EXTREMELY happy to have Gavin Silaski preaching this week! What perfect timing with everything else that is going on! Gavin will be preaching from Jeremiah 9:23-24 (linked at right). His message is called, "Voiceless."

- Curtis

When God Lets Us Down

2009-10-08T18:11:00.000-07:00

So I started this blog earlier in the week with a childhood story of dashed expectations. But it turned out so well, if I do say so myself, that I decided to use it as my opener for the message on Sunday. If you want to hear it, you'll just have to attend worship. Or listen once it gets uploaded to the podcast page. But I highly recommend worship for all other benefits that come from being together in God's presence. Of course, if you get your expectations up too high for a clever sermon-opener, those expectations might be dashed as well - leaving you with double-dashed-expectations. What could be better? So get your hopes up and I'll let you down, leaving you with the very point I'm attempting to get across.

Luke 7 contains lots more miracles by Jesus. And then something strange happens: John the Baptist sends two of his followers to ask Jesus, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" We don't know what exactly led John to ask this question, but it's quite possible that he was dealing with dashed expectations. He was, perhaps, thinking that Jesus would be someone different or that he would do things that he wasn't doing. In the message we will explore what these expectations might have been. We'll also look at our own expectations for God and what happens when God disappoints us in some way.

- Curtis

Upside Down Living

2009-10-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

No, the video doesn't have anything to do with the message this week. If you can make a tie-in, let me know. It's just pure, mindless fun - my dog rounding up his squeaky toy sheep. He's an Australian Shepherd, after all. Herd he must.

I don't have lots to tell you about the message this week (skip to the last paragraph if you want...). Hopefully that will change by Sunday, but there's lots of work to be done on it before then if that's to happen. Instead I'll fill you in on yesterday. Some plans for a Season of Service meeting fell through due to a slight dental emergency in our family. Becca had a filling (her first cavity ever) about three weeks ago. Although the dentist said it was a "small" filling, somehow a nerve in the tooth was nicked, it seems. She started having pain a couple of days after the filling and it didn't go away. We thought it was just normal kind of stuff, but when it intensified this week I called back in to get an appointment. That call, in itself, was an experience. I called the "emergency appointment" line and talked to a young woman who asked me a series of questions about Becca's pain, when it started, what it was like, etc. When I was done she put me on hold for awhile, then came back and said,

"Okay, we can get you in on the 12th of October."

"The 12th?" I said. "Hmm. That's a long way off. What if she can't wait that long?"

"Then you call back in and make an emergency appointment."

"I thought that this was the emergency appointment line."

"Based on your answers to the questions I asked, I scheduled the appointment."

"But I asked for an emergency appointment."

"Sir, I'm just following the protocol."

She started getting a bit snippy at this point, and I guess did too. Come to think of it, I probably got snippy first. She was, after all, doing her job. My job was to get my kid in to see someone who could help her.

"Well, I think my daughter probably has an abcess tooth developing and she can't wait until the 12th. Can we get in as soon as possible?"

"Let me check. Please hold."

After a few minutes, during which I contemplated how I would rant and rave until they squeezed us in, she came back.

"How's tomorrow at 9:45 AM?"

"That would be great. Thank you."

And so, to make this long story shorter, we got in. Indeed it turned out that Becca had an abscess. So the poor kid started her root canal yesterday. And just to make it even lousier, it was her 17th birthday. Poor kid. She's feeling better today.

Oh yeah, the sermon for Sunday - it's about living in an upside down world. We're looking at Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Luke 6. We normally read this message as if it really isn't doable at all. Pie in the sky wishful thinking that will only apply in heaven. But we forget that the problems Jesus mentions here aren't going to be part of the reality in the new heaven and new earth that God restores. So it is about living these ways now. Which, of course, we don't do so well. What would it look like and be like to live as Jesus describes in this passage? That's where we're going in the message this week.

Grace,

Curtis

Snowflakes & People

2009-09-25T14:20:00.000-07:00

Luke 5:1-31

Categories. We love categories. We put everything into them, perhaps because categorizing things gives us some sense of control over life. We categorize experiences, restaurants, cars, books, chairs and chewing gum among millions of other things.

Most of all, though, we categorize people. People fall into categories like friend, enemy, loud, shy, ugly, sexy, smelly, nice, gay, straight, smart, stupid, compassionate, rude, happy, cranky, successful, loser, cool, geek, Christian, lost, this race or that . . . the categories are endless. I'm not sure if our categories are all about trying to control people, or if we're just trying to figure them out. Placing people in a category gives us a sense of, "Well now, I've got that one figured out." And so it's easier to stop worrying about who they really are very much because we already have them placed neatly tucked away into our mental file cabinet. We can almost hear God saying to us, "My oh my. What ever will I do with you?"

When we look at Luke chapter 5 we find Jesus meeting several people for the very first time. Some will become his apostles, some he will heal, others will reject him. Each encounter is surprisingly unique. What does this tell us about God and ourselves? About our relationship with him? That's what we'll explore in this week's message. - Curtis

Sneak Previews

2009-09-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

Luke 4:31-34

Up! Along with being a great movie, the previews for Up define what a good sneak preview is all about.

When I go to a movie, I like the sneak previews - the coming attractions - almost better than the feature film. Why? Because the previews almost always look good. They whet the viewer's appetite, even if the real film later turns out to be a letdown (which, of course, is common). Previews are exciting and fun.

I wonder if Luke thought of chapter 4 of his gospel as a sneak preview? It has so many of the major themes that come out in the rest of the story. Consider all he packs into one chapter:

The big temptation by Satan
Jesus' "this is what I'm all about" sermon in the Nazareth synagogue - and the rejection that comes along with it
Driving out evil
Healing people
Preaching Good News

That's a pretty good preview of the whole story. And the best part is, while Luke whet's our appetite, we don't feel let down at the end of the story. In fact, we realize it's just a beginning - our beginning. - Curtis

Truth in Advertising

2009-09-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

John 3:1-17

This is the "early in the week" version of the sermon blog. In other words, I don' t have much for you yet. But for starters... in John 3, Jesus talks with Nicodemus and discusses being "born again." More than any other phrase, "born again" has become wrapped in mis and pre conceptions. I think that's where my title, "Truth in Adversing" comes in. We get promised a lot of things when we come to faith, but how real are these? I don't know if it was ever really specifically said, but I got the idea that when I became a Christian I'd always be happy, and that I'd always feel God with me. I don't think I'm alone in thinking someone did the 'ole bait and switch on me. So what is the truth? More on that later in the week.

We'll take a fresh look at Jesus' talk with Nicodemus and where it leads us in our understanding of Jesus today.

- Curtis

Locksmith of the Soul

2009-09-04T11:53:00.000-07:00

Mark 7:24-37

One of the great ironies of life with God is that we are so very reluctant to be fully known, and yet we desperately need and want to be known. Why do we fear something we crave so much? It's possible that the most heartfelt - and terrifying prayer is this . . .

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Psalm 139

This week we'll start a new series of messages called Getting Reacquainted with Jesus. The way Mark's gospel starts in the early chapters seems to point to a profound truth: We can't know God fully until we allow him to know us - or perhaps until we simply realize how deeply he knows us. The good and the bad; the light and the dark within each of us. It is Jesus who knows us better than we know ourselves. That's wonderful and frightening.

One of my current favorite songs explains this need and paradox well. It's Times, by Tenth Avenue North. The first part is a person's prayer to God; the second part is God's reply. Lyrics and song are below. See you Sunday - Curtis

Balanced Living

2009-08-29T12:04:00.000-07:00

One of the recurring wishes of my life is that I wish I lived in in a more balanced way. Every vacation ends with an inner pledge something like, "I'm going to do things differently now. More of this, less of that. I will balance my life henceforth and live in peace!" And then, of course, I do more of this and less of that for about a day and a half, and within 36 hours life returns to the unbalanced mess that it always is. The same thing happens at the end of summer, the beginning of a new year, and pretty much anytime I go to the beach or look up at the stars on a clear night. You'd think I'd toss up my hands and realize that I'm never going to get it right. But I'm a dreamer and I keep seeking that balance in life.

I think that's why the passage from Ephesians 5 hit me as being about balanced living. Strictly speaking, from a theological point of view, it's not about balance. But the beauty of preaching is that this is where the passage hit me this week. Next week it could be about lawn mowing or baseball playoffs. So the sermon is growing into looking at Paul's answer to the question, "What does the Christian life look like?" He doesn't ask that, but that's sort of intrinsic in the passage. And the answer seems to me to be, "Balance your life in God." Not that God is the top priority on a list of priorities, but that a life lived in God will naturally be balanced. Paul even says, "Don't live like a fool." The NIV says "don't live unwisely" but a better translation is really, "Don't be an idiot, a fool." That sounds more like Paul anyway.

So maybe my perpetual problem of being out of balance is more accurately a problem of not truly living in God. Being a fool. Hmm. That's disturbing. - Curtis

The Not-Really-a-Guest, Guest Preacher - Dr. Everett Curry

2009-08-19T14:36:00.001-07:00

So this weekend I'll be in the Cascades near Burnt Lake with about 12-14 men, sons, and perhaps a daughter or two on a backpacking adventure! Everett Curry, a friend and mentor, graciously offered to preach this Sunday. Here's what he says about the passage - a truly Great Scripture, by the way - worth the read below. Thanks Everett!

--------

August 23 Message Title: "What's In Your Hand?"

Why is it we argue when God calls us to a task? Whether a leadership role
or putting a specific gift to work...we have all the reasons NOT to do what
God is asking.

We'll examine responses to God from Moses and Pharaoh. They are
amazingly parallel.

The Sermon text is from Exodus 3-4
Also read this amazing translation of Psalm 78

Psalm 78:23-29

When we were starving for affection, God found us friends.

Their cupboards fed us; we gained courage from their company.
We could not have asked for more, if we were little
lower than angels.
When we were mired in our own misery, God set our feet
on firm ground;
when self-defeating thoughts entangled us, God dusted
the cobwebs from our minds;
when we were frozen with fears, God warmed us in loving arms.
Like northern marshes opening icy ponds to the summer
sun, we respond to God's goodness.
God has restored us to life.
Once we were slaves, but God has set us free.
Freedom is an attitude; we can take it with us, wherever we are.
What more could we ask for?

From: Everyday Psalms
paraphrased by Jim Taylor

A Healthy Body

2009-08-07T15:42:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 4:1-16

So maybe a catchier title for the message this week would have been, What a Body! Hindsight is always 20-20. Oh well.

What do you think of your body?

Is anyone ever truly happy with the body they have? Even if everything is working as it should, (which is no given past, oh say, 29 yrs), most people aren't happy with their bodies. Too much of this here, not enough of that there. According to Isaiah, even Jesus may have been ugly (Isaiah 53). Isaiah says that there's was nothing visually appealing about him; that people turned their faces away for some reason. Personally, I long for bodily symmetry. Someday it will be mine. But not in this body.

So it's funny that Paul talks about the people of God being the Body of Christ. Somehow, all of us together, in Christ, make a beautiful Body. And in that Body we mysteriously find our unity with God. That's what we'll think about this Sunday in worship: What unity is really about; the how we are the Body of Christ; what that looks like - and why it makes a difference in our lives. - Curtis

Organic, Natural, No-Fat Jesus (come Sunday to hear why that's a sermon title...)

2009-07-31T11:43:00.000-07:00

I'm back. And instead of waxing eloquent about the upcoming sermon this week, I thought I'd tell you a little about my vacation in hopes that, if you haven't yet gotten away, you will be inspired to do so.

First, however, I want to thank Peter Clay for preaching while I was away. This week one person told me, "The sermon was amazing. I enjoy it so much when Peter preaches. Not that you're not good too, but you know what I mean."

Ahem.

I do actually. Peter brings a life-perspective that has feeling and power. So thank you Peter! I haven't gotten my mittens on the sermon files yet, but when I do I'll listen and also post them on our sermon podcast. So check them out next week if you didn't hear him personally.

Back to vacation thoughts....as I mentioned in my post pre-vacation, I had a hard time breaking away. But camping with my girls did the job. We took along a little 2-person raft and went to a spot on the Nehalem River. Beautiful and quite perfect. The most adventurous part of the 3 day trip was sending Malia, Becca and one of their friends down the Nehalem in that raft. Fear not, they wore life vests. The only trouble was

figuring out where I would yank them out down-river. Yes, I should have considered this more before saying bon-voyage. It turned out well despite hacking through thick brush in shorts; being scratched by something in the brush that made my legs feel like red-hot chili peppers (not the singing group) had been rubbed all over my skin. That feeling only lasted about 12 hours. The welts subsided before that. But it was great fun and I doubt the girls will forget it soon. In the middle of my time away, we came back for the CHBC Community BBQ.

Then, during week 2, 14 of us rented a house in Manzanita - Ana's extended family from California. Some days were cool, some warm and sunny, but each one was good. We rested, golfed, kayaked, played volleyball, surfed, and hiked a bit. Ana's brother and I are extraordinary friends, though the family believes we are a pain to be around when we get together. We laughed so hardat times I thought I'd get a hernia. I finished a couple of books I'd been trudging through too. The pics here tell some of the story.

There's something wonderful about getting away. Disengaging allows the mind, soul and body to recharge. Perhaps God was onto something with the Sabbath thing, huh? I find that my ability to engage people meaningfully is restored - and I hope that lasts. I didn't realize, until I was away, that I was a bit fried emotionally. But that's another story....

So that's about it. I'm back, ready for our last VBS day this coming Wednesday (80 F beats last week's 107 F). I'm looking forward to see you all in worship! Oh, and the message is from John 6 where Jesus talks about being "living bread" - we'll try to figure out what that's supposed to mean. See you soon! - Curtis

Vacation Time! Guest Preacher - Peter Clay!

2009-07-15T11:21:00.000-07:00

Hi all! Okay, so it's Wednesday of my first week of two weeks of vacation. It has yet to feel like I'm "away." I'm normally pretty good at setting up boundaries around my away time. But it hasn't worked out well yet this year. Phone calls, loose ends ... you know how it goes.

In two hours, however, I'm officially unplugging. I'm taking 2 of my daughters to a secluded campground where there is no cell phone service, no electricity, and I don't think anyone will find me. I hope. I plan to dangle my toes in the river, swim, eat smores and watch my kids have fun. They're too old to want to include me in the fun much, but I'll try. So...goodbye!!!

I'm extremely happy to have Peter Clay preaching while I'm away. Peter is a gifted artist (both musically and in other forms of art), and a wonderful preacher as well. Peter has served as a pastor in the past, but it is his journey as a father, husband and child of God that has grown his view of God's Word into a form of preaching that should not be missed. He brings out depth and insight that will inform and inspire you. I hope you'll come hear him preach the next 2 Sundays. You can find his scriptures and sermon titles on the main CHBC webpage. Until then, wish me God's speed in disconnecting for a time.

- Curtis

It's Not About You

2009-07-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

2 Corinthians 2:1-10

Just a brief paragraph about this week's passage. Anyone who has had any kind of chronic pain – either physical, psychological or spiritual (etc) – has found solace or frustration in this passage where Paul talks about his thorn in the flesh. There are lots of theories as to what that thorn was, but no one really knows.

God's words to Paul were clear though: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” These are words that not only speak to the way we endure as individuals, but also point to a larger picture of which we are a part. God's power is revealed in our circumstances when, in our weakness, we submit to God's purposes and plans. There's a bigger picture, a larger plan involved - God's Story of redemption for the world. If we don't know that's what the story is about, or that we're part of that story, then we live in a state of constant frustration and confusion - which is the norm for so many people.

- Curtis

Poor You, Poor Me

2009-06-26T09:18:00.000-07:00

2 Corinthians 8:1-15

If, today, you heard God say, "Let go" - what would you feel, deep in your heart, that he was telling you to let go of? Would it be to let go of some hurt; some resentment or anger? Let go of a behavior or addiction that holds you tight? Maybe Or to let go of a resource (financial or otherwise) for the benefit of others?

What does God want you to let go of?

In this 2 Corinthians passage Paul tells the church at Corinth to give their resources for the sake of the suffering believers in Jerusalem. Giving is more than letting go, but releasing is definitely part of what needs to take place. Letting go involves trust and that's part of what generosity is all about as well. Trusting God with whatever happens once we have released - whatever we let go of. And all of that doesn't even begin to address what happens when we release something for the benefit of others. That's another layer of blessing, of mystery. We'll dig into all of this on Sunday - and celebrate a great Baptism!

- Curtis

A Letter From Dad

2009-06-20T14:16:00.000-07:00

That's my dad here to the right. He was 18 yrs old, drafted into the US Army in 1942. Sergeant Buthe served in Germany, helped free Dachau, was awarded a Bronze Star but never would tell us why.

With Father's Day this week, it makes me stop and think about my dad who died more than eleven years ago. One of the best things I ever did was to write him a letter not long before his body succumbed to cancer. A friend suggested writing some of the things that were hard to say out loud to my dad. Which, with him, was most things I wanted to say. So I wrote him a letter thanking him for the good things I learned from him; for the blessings he had passed on to me and my children; and, in a sense, forgiving him for not being perfect. I shared what I hoped life would still hold for him too as he grew closer to God. As I said, it was one of the best things I could have done for dad. I flew down to California when I found out the cancer was back, and gave him the letter. He loved it. He shared it with friends - men - who came to visit him - they told me later. About a month after that, he collapsed in his entryway and died. My mom found him when she came in from gardening.

So write your dad a letter. Don't make stuff up. Be honest. Be grateful for what he did well. He'll like it better than a set of golfballs or a beer mug.

This passage in John's letter, especially vs 12-14, is quite beautiful. Think of it as a letter from dad. Here it is:

I write to you, dear children,
      because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
I write to you, fathers,
      because you have known him who is from the beginning.
   I write to you, young men,
      because you have overcome the evil one.
   I write to you, dear children,
      because you have known the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
      because you have known him who is from the beginning.
   I write to you, young men,
      because you are strong,
      and the word of God lives in you,
      and you have overcome the evil one. - 1 John 2:12-14

It's really more like poetry or a song with John repeating “I write to you children...young men...fathers” two times each. The message will center on this interplay between John's instructions to “children,” “young men” and “fathers” - and what these words have to say to each of us about knowing God and our role in the Kingdom.

And don't forget your letter to dad.

- Curtis

Hearing God's Frustrating, Wonderful Voice

2009-06-09T15:08:00.000-07:00

1 Samuel 15-16
Samuel is one of the most curious of all bible guys. He's born destined to be a prophet. Talk about pressure. But he does it. Whatever God tells him, he does time after time, after time. Unlike most bible dudes, we see his life the whole way through, and even after death (1 Samuel 28).
In childhood he's humble, inquisitive and obedient. In adulthood he's courageous, sarcastic, blunt and exceedingly holy. He made peace and made war, forgave and condemned. There are few like him in all of scripture, who seem to follow God so completely. And yet his life is never easy, never simple, never what we would probably call "happy." I'm certain there was joy and laughter in his life that we are not shown - I think.

The thing that brings out a profound sense of awe in me as I read about Samuel, is the way he walked and talked with God all the time. Since he had the Spirit from birth - a prototype for how we are now meant to live in the Spirit - he walks and talks with God as few did.

Samuel: "Lord, I'm hungry. Don't have a dime for lunch. What now? "

God: "Take the next exit and turn right. There's a little BBQ place with a great tri-tip cut that I think you'll enjoy. Tell them I asked you to drop by. They'll understand."

That seems to be the kind of relationship they have. Curious. Wonderful. Frightening.
It's true that Samuel was a powerful prophet, but the more distinguishing characteristic of his life was the way he simply heard God; knew God. When I study Samuel I can't help but think God is saying, "This is how well I know you. This is the quality of friendship I want you to have with me."

How different life would be.

How about your life? What would this kind of intimacy with God mean for you?
- Curtis

Wind, Fire, Spirit! It's Pentecost

2009-05-29T12:15:00.000-07:00

Acts 2:1-21

Christian Pentecost is truly the most under-celebrated holy-day of the year. Next to Jesus' return, it's what the whole ball-game was all about. It's the grand reversal of the Curse, the death of humankind when, in Genesis 3, Adam and Eve drew back from God's Spirit with one act of betrayal. Finally, with Jesus' death and resurrection, the Spirit could return to each person who chooses to welcome him. The worst part of the Curse, separation from God's Spirit, ends. That's Pentecost! We should be dancing, yelling, setting off firecrackers and smacking high-fives till our hands bleed.

Perhaps we would blow the top off the place if we really paused to invite the Spirit in. So I ask you - how do you most long for the Spirit of the Living God to impact your life, your heart? What is there in your heart that is dormant, lost, forgotten - and that, if God were to infuse Spirit-power there, it would be exceedingly wonderful?

When I first came to know Jesus, I liked Keith Green stuff (there weren't many "Christian" music folks to choose from). He wrote a song about the Spirit. It makes a terrific prayer...

Rushing Wind

Keith Green

Rushing wind, blow through this temple,
Blowing out the dust within;
Come and breathe your breath upon me:
I've been born again.

Holy Spirit, I surrender; take me where you want to go.
Plant me by your living water,
Plant me deep so I can grow.

Jesus, you’re the one who sets my spirit free;
Use me, Lord; glorify your Holy Name through me.

Separate me from this world, Lord;
Sanctify my life for you.
Daily change me to your image,
Help me bear good fruit.

Ev'ry day you're drawing closer;
Trials come to test my faith.
But when all is said and done, Lord,
You know it's been worth the wait.

Jesus, you’re the one who set my spirit free;
Use me, Lord; glorify your Holy Name through me.

Rushing wind, blow through this temple,
Blowing out the dust within;
Come and breathe you breath upon me,
For I've been born again.

Grace to you,

Curtis

Branching Out

2009-05-15T11:40:00.000-07:00

John 15:1-12

It hit me this week that I give a sermon that has something to do with planting or growing something each Spring. It's not intentional. It happens because I'm itching to get out in the dirt this time of year. About the only time of year that I miss California is in early April because planting season starts earlier there. Mid May has to suffice here, which only makes the expectation greater.

I started some cukes, zukes and tomatoes in my window a few weeks ago. Things were going well until critters attacked right there in the upstairs guestroom window. Little micro green worms went to town on my cucumbers. They hid under the leaves, then munched like jr high boys at Papa's Pizza. Despite my respect for life, I plucked them off by the dozens and disciplined them severely. They won't be back. But I'm not sure my prized plants will do well. They've lost valuable time and growth opportunity. I pinched off a few leaves and spoke kind words to them. We'll see what happens.

Jesus lived in a time when people were much more in touch with agrarian life and that background gave people a deeper understanding about what it means to rely upon God, and the slow process of growth. If they wanted a rutabaga, they'd have to wait til the right time of year (whenever that was) and maybe pay a visit to the family that grew rutabagas. We run to the store, and grab one instantly. Something good is lost with instant gratification.

In John 15 we're invited to get back in touch with a process of growth and finding our source of life in Christ. We'll study what "abiding," "pruning" and "fruit" mean - unless God takes us in a different direction.
- Curtis

Strong Medicine

2009-05-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

Acts 3-4

Do you sometimes feel like you tip-toe around the topic of Jesus? Most of us do. Lots of things come into play. We don't want people to think we're a religious nut. There's enough of those around and who wants to fall in with that lot? Not that I'm judging, lest I be . . .well, anyway. And then we don't want to alienate people, or say the "wrong thing" or - you name it.

We tip-toe.

Not Peter.

After the resurrection this guy comes out with guns blaring, figuratively of course. No more hiding by the bonfire, denying Jesus. He's offending and alienating about everybody possible. Except those that he's saving with his sharp message. How is he able to be so insanely bold for Jesus? Why doesn't he care what happens to him? We'll dig into these questions this week.

Something to consider: Would you be willing to be as bold as Peter if you God said, "I'll do a miracle through you that will completely change someone's life and eternity"?

Blinded

2009-04-30T18:33:00.000-07:00

2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Remember this scene from The Matrix? I think I used it a couple of years ago in a message, but it's time to dust it off and use it again. "The red pill or the blue pill?" The Red wakes Neo up to see reality; the Blue let's him stay blissfully ignorant of the Truth. He chooses Red.

We all have a choice to make - whether to continue with the belief system of this world or wake up and see the Truth. If only it was so simple and a one-time thing. In truth, it's a daily choice. Every ---- single ---- day. We choose.

Paul says that the "... god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel..." It makes me stop and think that, though there is of course an element of choice for each person, there is also the "god of this age" (Satan) who is working diligently to feed people the blue pill of blindness. We can't, therefore, be surprised at their hostility to the things of God; the people of God. Why would it be otherwise?

For the message, we'll dig into what it means to "shine in the darkness" and how we can do that in practical ways where we each live. Check out the question in the upper right corner - and chime in!
- Curtis
- CB

The Passion Week

2009-04-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

Passion.
That's hubba, hubba stuff, right? What does that have to do with what Jesus went through during his last week? Turns out that our English word "passion" comes from the Greek word, pathos. Pathos, like many words, can have more than one meaning. One meaning referrs to something suffered, and in this sense the "passion of Jesus" refers to the suffering that he endured. Through the years passion morphed into the additional meaning of strong emotions - probably because enduring strong suffering involves strong emotions as well. And if Jesus was willing to suffer so much for us, he must have strong emotions, feelings, passions for us.

Things don't get a lot busier around the church than during Holy Week, Passion Week. There's the Good Friday service, the Egg Hunt on Saturday morning, and Easter festivities. It seems that there's always an extra need during the week as well. But for some reason I'm not feeling overwhelmed this time. It could be denial about all I still have to do; that's a strong possibility. Or maybe God has simply given me a bit of extra peace. I prefer that explanation.

For the sermon this Easter I decided to preach on the least popular account of Jesus' resurrection - Mark's. Mark's gospel ends in a very unsatisfying way. Like a movie ending that doesn't complete things as you wished. Gibson's Passion of the Christ captured this feeling very well, I thought. It leaves you wanting more, sensing that so much more must have happened - and why wasn't it conveyed better?!

In Mark 16, the women come to the tomb with their spice rack to freshen things up around the stinky tomb. But an angel disguised as a guy in white is there to greet them and he gives them the coolest news: "Don't be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him." There's a bit more, but that's pretty much it. The part in our bibles that comes after this section was most likely added years or decades later by someone who wanted to complete the scene in a more satisfying way. It used to really bug me that we don't have more in Mark. But the truth is, we don't need more. And Mark must have ended it there for a very good reason. What was it? What do you think?
That's what we'll explore this Sunday for Easter. - Curtis
PS: NT Wright provides a scholarly look at resurrection in the 1st century. Go here if you dare!

Trendy Jesus?

2009-04-03T13:32:00.000-07:00

Wow, the sun is coming out just in time for Palm Sunday. HOW-lay-LEW-yahhh!
The cold and rain has become way too trendy for me.
Trend: Noun. The general direction in which something tends to move. A general tendency or inclination.
The problem with a trend in this day of rapidly changing trends is that the moment something becomes trendy, it's likely not going to be a cool trend for long. The trend is at an end. At least for marketing and sales purposes. So marketing folks have to think of a way to keep trends fresh and new as they become more and more popular.
Jesus reached the pinnacle of his trendiness on Palm Sunday. From there it was all down hill, at least that's what it looked like. He fell off the trend scale faster than Rod Blagojevich; faster than the economy fell last Fall. And the amazing thing is, that's just what God had in mind. Again and again God pounds away at us with the same idea: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." Isaiah 55:8
If God's ways are so different, then what might it mean to the ways we live? Are we such creatures of trend and culture that we can't see the world differently? And if we can see things from God's view, what would that look like? That's what we'll chew on this Palm Sunday.
- Curtis

Achhhhooo

2009-03-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

Kabooom.
Ten thousand droplets of snotty mist expelled at 40 miles per hour. Each droplet carrying a payload of millions of invisible rhinos. Rhino-viruses, actually, expelled from my body in a cataclysmic respiratory spasm - aka- a sneeze. That pretty well sums up my week since Tuesday night when this nasty thing hit. Look at the picture here. It's a rhino-virus, one of 200 likely viral culprits for the common cold. I never thought about it much, but I wonder if some guy with a microscope looked at this and saw the little horns poking out, and said, "Hmm. This little virus Looks like it has rhinoceros horns. Let's call it a rhino-virus." I bet that's really it. What if it had looked like dog poop? Something to think about . . .

As I'm lying in bed last night, dramatically tossing and turning back and forth, hacking up a lung and groaning for effect, Ana speaks words of comfort to me. Ana, my dear, dear wife, tells me, "It's really hard to feel very sorry for you when you already feel so sorry for yourself." Is there no pity left in the world today, I ask?

So the sermon this week is from a terrific passage - Ephesians 2 (you can click on the link at right here and go right to the passage). What occured to me this week is that sin and sickness have some things in common. These little rhino-virus jerks want to take me out of commission; sin wants the same. When they succeed for a time, I become ineffective in my life and I sort of disappear from the scene for awhile. And so it is with sin. As we are lulled away from our relationship with God into a self-focused, diseased mindset, we are taken out of "the game" that God has for us. We find that we are ineffective in our relationships, in our efforts, and the same sort of depression that happens when we're sick can take place.
I don't know how this will work in the message, but the passage is full of good news mostly. Paul encourages us with this:
God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions
Good news, healing is on the way.
- Curtis

Thank God for the Recession!

2009-03-06T11:42:00.000-08:00

The recession really sucks. Especially if you are a victim of a foreclosure, a job loss, a business failure. If you have a retirement account, you're lucky if it's worth 65% what it was a year ago. It's getting hard to not let the current situation impact the way we feel about daily living.

But if we trust God; if we believe he is sovereign (in control) then we have to also trust that he has a purpose - or many purposes - in what's happening. There's something absolutely wonderful that he's doing, right now, as we say, "This sucks!" That's where Hope comes in. This week we look at Abraham, the Father of our faith and a guy with an amazing ability to hope, no matter what came his way.
- Curtis

Getting Out of Debt

2009-02-27T16:01:00.000-08:00

2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10; Joel 2:1-2; 12-14

(To read the strange dream I had last night - these are getting very common - jump down to the next post)
We're talking about a more important kind of debt than you might first think of. Debt to God. Today's passage from Paul is a beautiful bit of writing by Paul about what it looks like live as "ambassadors for reconciliation." The theme, though, is getting people reconciled to God - a good start for Lent, with the focus on repentance & forgiveness for this communion Sunday. It's rather amazing to think about what Paul was willing, even eager, to suffer if he could reconcile people to God. We don't even like being taken lightly. This guy was tough as nails. He knew what God created him for. He had purpose and drive.
But this Sunday we'll really be focusing more on the Joel 2 passage as we start the Lenten seasion. God says,
"Yet even now, return to me with all your heart - with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your garments. Return to the Lord your God for he is merciful and compassionate..."
Someone needs to bend that into a song. It's so beautiful, this idea of God waiting for us to return to him humbly, completely. Picture the broken prodigal son who comes to his senses, Jesus says, and turns back to home. The Father is at the door of his home, searching for the lost son. How long had the son been gone? How long had the father waited; scanning the horizon for his rebellious son? And when he sees him, he runs to the boy, lavishing undeserved love and forgiveness upon him. So it is for me. And you.

As Lent begins, it is good to consider ways that we've been prodigals. Take a look at your heart. Tear it open, no matter how vile and ugly it might feel inside. For God is compassionate and merciful.
- Curtis

Another Strange Dream

2009-02-27T15:42:00.000-08:00

Waves

I had another weird dream last night. This has nothing to do with the sermon, by the way. I was in a high rise hotel near the beach. Someplace warm. I was all alone, maybe on the 15th floor or so. I was in the room with the sliding glass doors shut, looking out over the ocean. The little patio had a wind-shield going about half up made of plastic. I was thinking that it must get really windy sometimes, though it wasn't windy in my dream. This wasn't a place that was familiar to me and the dream just started as I've described. I wondered why I was there, but things changed quickly. As I looked out on the sea, I realized a huge, and I mean HUGE wave was heading in. The hotel was perched right on the ocean for some odd reason, so there was virutally no beach to cross. It slammed into the hotel, and the subsequent splash came all the way up to about 2 floors below me. I wondered what had happened to all those people beneath my floor. As the water receded, I saw plastic wind screens washing away. My room was on a corner; sort of an "L" in the building, so I could peer around my balcony and see people in the room next to me, which was set back a bit further than my room. I looked into their room and their door was wide open; they were laying on top of their covers on the bed watching TV. They seemed oblivious to the sea. Just as I was doing my peeping-tom thing, another wave hit and it was much bigger. It crashed into my window, almost breaking it. My neighbors were not so lucky. The top of this towering wave washed into their room and slapped them right off the bed. One of them was swept out the door.
At that moment, Ana awakened me. Now this is where I'm strange - I love creepy dreams. I hate waking up before they conclude. I tried to go back to sleep for a minute, but that hardly ever works.
So is this about life right now? The economy? Making waves somehow? Hmmm...
- Curtis

Wanted: Dream Interpreters

2009-02-17T10:18:00.000-08:00

It's Tuesday and I'm getting ready to leave my mom's house in Mountain View California for Davis. It's pouring rain here, by the way. Sunny California - right!

I spent the day yesterday with Amanda - driving around town to get things that she normally can't lug back to her dorm room without a car. We trekked through Target, Costco and finally landed at an Army surplus store to look for some good work gloves. Over Spring break she's going to Honduras as part of a first-ever SCU trip with the Water Brigade. They'll be working on a clean water project in Honduras. It was a good day to spend together. I've very proud of Amanda.

Today, after taking Amanda and a friend out to lunch, I'll be driving to Davis to see my friend Carl Linvill who works with an economic and environmental "think tank" in Sacramento. It's a good thing someone is thinking about stuff like that. Carl and I have been friends since 1971 and both went to college together; independently became Christians within a week of each other during college; and were in each others weddings. So it will be good to catch up.

So last night the "pastor dreams" started to kick in again. I don't remember a lot of details, but I was traipsing through a thick brush in my dreams. I may have been hacking through high grass with a machete, with a 3rd person view of myself. Then, right in the middle of this brush hacking, I realized that I was overwhelmed with one thought: What is the sermon about this week? What will the "points" be? I kid you not. Not only one sermon preoccupied my thoughts, but two. For some reason I had two sermons to prepare, and both were imminently due. There was a vague sense of a bible passage lingering in the dream, but it felt like I didn't know what I was going to say. As I write these words, I seem to have a memory of the same kind of thing happening last year when I was heading back home. It's not that hard to figure out what the dream was about, but what do you suppose the thick brush and hacking through it represents? The passage? Ministry? My relationship with God? Hmmm. Pipe in with your deep thoughts! May God fill your moments this week with his presence and grace.
- Curtis

My Trip South

2009-02-12T14:00:00.000-08:00

(If you're looking for the JOKE I did not tell to start last week's sermon, it's the next post below this one...)

(Above is s short video/slideshow of my drive - nothing much!)

I'm finally getting around to starting a little journal of my trip to San Diego on this, day 3 of the National Pastor's Conference. Last year I brought my little mini-laptop along, but the power cord unexpectedly croaked a couple of days before I made this trip, so I lugged my mac mini and a separate full sized screen along instead. During the first session of the conference I discovered that some rather egocentric fellow pastors didn't seem to appreciate my understandable need to drag extension cords across their laps to power my computer, monitor and printer. They should have been thankful I brought my flat screen monitor instead of the old clunker. Of course you know I'm not serious, but I do miss my laptop. Having to set up shop in my motel room is significantly less fun than typing away whenever I feel like it to share what's going on here.

The other difference this year is that I decided to stay at different hotel which is about a mile and a half from the conference. After a couple of years at Super 8, I was ready for a change. I heard one comedian say once that they should call "Super 8" something else - like maybe "OK 5." I couldn't agree more. The extra distance is worth it and I packed my bike into the back of my car so I could bike to the conference and not pay their silly $12 a day parking fee. I have a fridge and even a little stove so I'm made most meals here in the room. A bit isolating, but cheap!

But let's back up a bit. I started my trek down last Sunday after church - at least that's what I was planning. But I was in slow motion and very tired. I didn't end up leaving town until late that afternoon after packing and laundry and a bunch of other stuff. When I got on the road I found I was so tired that I only made it to Ashland, where I stayed the night. When I awoke, the surrounding mountains were blanketed in snow. The highway was a little icey and covered with more gravel than I have ever seen on a road. The rest of the drive was, in a word, LONG. I amused myself with podcasts I had loaded onto my iPod. And there was plenty of time to think about all of the things I should have finished before leaving town, but didn't. Twelve hours later, on Monday night, I arrived here in San Diego. Since then I've been one of about 2000 pastors, most of whom alternate between looking happy to be here or like zombies from the Living Dead. I wonder which I seem to be.

What Goes On At a Pastor's Conference?
I suspect that nothing could sound more boring to some of you than attending a Pastors' Conference. No doubt you are correct - for you. But for us pastor-types, these things can really be quite enthralling. Check out some of the seminar titles for instance (just a few examples of dozens that are offered):

* When the Buck Stops Here: Dealing with the Loneliness of Leadership
* How to Deal with Demanding People without Losing Your Sanity
* Celluloid Spirituality
* Church on the Couch: Does the Church Need Therapy?
* Organic Outreach for Ordinary Churches: Growing an Evangelistic Vision that is Natural, Contagious, and Compelling
* How Green is God?
* The Coming Crisis of Church PCF (Potluck Casserole Flu) - Why Your Church Is At Risk (Ok, I made that one up...)

Now, don't you wish you were here too? NO? Well, for pastors this stuff is ambrosia.

I won't bore you more with the talks I have attended, the books I've picked up or such minutia. But it's been good. It's especially nice to not have responsibility for leading anything at all this week; to sit back and drink in good teaching, tremendous worship, thoughtful new ideas, and simply rest and think about what God is up to and how we are to be a part of it. I always come home with ideas for our church which are sure to cause an uproar for some.
Last night I got to talk to one of my preaching heroes - Will Willimon. He's a guy in his 60's who spent most of his career teaching students at Duke University and he's written 60(!) books. I think he's one of the finest pure preachers of the last 50 years. A gifted man who can weave God's word into a message that touches your mind and heart. He remains the only man I've ever known who delivered an entire sermon on circumcision. Now he's a Methodist Bishop - a "ecclesiastical bureaucrat" as he describes it. He gave a message that I dare say he would not give anywhere else but in front of a group of pastors. Afterwards I waited to speak with him and was impressed by his kindness and genuine spirit. It was a good time.

Other speakers have included Bill Hybels, Shane Claiborne, Rob Bell and Dr. Chris Wright (who speaks with a very intelligent sounding Irish accent).

So CHBC folks, thank you for this chance to learn new things and to get some time away. It didn't hit me until yesterday that I was so exhausted before coming here. I felt like I was in a fog for a couple of days and just started to wake up.

Tomorrow afternoon (Friday) the conference ends and I'll be driving to see my brother in Seal Beach (South of LA). This weekend with him is the one time a year when get hang out together alone. Then I'll head up to see my mom and Amanda for a day or two, and do some planning as well.

I'll try to update this journal again before the end of the weekend. May God bless you with time for recharging too.
Grace & Peace,
Curtis

The Joke

2009-02-11T23:40:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I planned to start the message with the joke below. But it didn't happen that way. It was Scout Sunday and so we had some great guests with us and I didn't want to offend any of them. Especially the kids - and the parents who might have to answer some "interesting" questions. The point of the joke is in the addendum at the end.
----
A priest, a pastor and a rabbi walk into a bar to share a drink and talk shop. Shop for guys like this is preaching, and one of them makes the comment that preaching to people isn’t really all that hard. Well, they have a few rounds, and so they decide to do an experiment. They each agree to go out into the woods, find a bear, preach to it, and attempt to convert it.  

The next day back in the bar, they share their stories. Father Flannery is bandaged head to toe and on crutches. He reports, “When I found my bear, I read to him from the Catechism. Well, that bear just started slapping me around. So I quickly grabbed my holy water, sprinkled him, and bless me, he became as gentle a lamb. The bishop is going out next week to give him first communion and confirmation.”  

Reverend Billy spoke next from his wheelchair, one arm and both legs in casts. In his best fire-and-brimstone style he claims, “Well brothers, you know we don’t sprinkle anything. But I found me a barr and read to him from God’s Holy Word! But that barr wanted nothing to do with me. So I took hold of him and we began to wrassle. We wrassled up one hill and down another until we came to a crick. So I quick dunked him and baptized his hairy soul! And just like you said, he became as gentle as a lamb. We spent the rest of the day praising Jesus and I signed him up for New Members class."

They both looked down at Rabbi Goldstein who was in pretty bad shape — an IV drip, full body cast and he’d been wheeled in, in a hospital bed. The rabbi sighed in pain and reflected, “Looking back on it, I probably shouldn’t have started with circumcision.”

The Point of Telling It
Okay, so there it is. I was preaching on "gray areas" and wanted to kick off with a story that was a gray area all it's own.
What part of that story made some of your cringe the most? Religious leaders in a bar? Having a drink, and then tossing back a few? Clergy bragging and holding a preaching contest? Religious stereotypes? A punch line about circumcision?
That's all there is to it! I think I made the right decision by leaving it out that Sunday. I know Ana was relieved!

Care About the World

2009-01-14T12:09:00.001-08:00

Care, Learn, Open Your Mind to What God is Doing

It's easy to get tunnel vision, selfish vision. Fight that tendency in a practical and very simple way - come learn from the Chetti's in worship this week. Daniel and Sarah Chetti are our missionaries to Lebanon. They will be with us this week, January 18th, in worship at Cedar Hills Baptist. Daniel is a wonderful speaker with an up-close and fascinating perspective of the situation in the Middle East. His ministry directly involves relationships with people of Islamic faith, and he has an understanding of Palestinian issues and the many challenges to peace in the Holy Land. How does a Baptist seminary respond to the needs of Christians in the Arab world? What can we do to support peace? How do we pray for peace and for believers and unbelievers in the Middle East? These and other questions (yours) will be explored on Sunday - don't miss it!

We'll have two opportunities to learn from Daniel and Sarah - in worship at 10:30 AM and then at a question and answer "Share a Dish" lunch following worship in the Fellowship Hall.

To prepare for our time with the Chetti's, check out info about the Chetti's and the nation where they serve - Lebanon.

Go HERE for a BBC country profile on Lebanon.

Go HERE for the Chetti's online International Ministry page with lots of info about them.

Go HERE for "Link TV" News broadcast from the Middle East - from both Israel and Palestinian sources.

Here's a map of Israel with the Gaza Strip at the bottom and a bit of Lebanon with Beirut at the top. Click on it to enlarge.

- Curtis

WWJHUB?

2009-01-09T13:49:00.001-08:00

When people start to think about becoming a Christian, many have a specific fear that God is going to wipe away their unique personality or identity. After all, we tell people "Jesus will make you a whole new person." Or, "You'll be like Christ." What does that mean? What does it look like? Do we really want to totally lose ourselves and become exactly like Jesus -- and is that what it means to be a Christian? Is there nothing good about us that God wants to keep?

These are good questions. And Paul said things like, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me...the old has gone, the new has come."

This week's passage from John 1:43-51 gives us a peek at the "calling" of two relatively unknown apostles, Philip and Nathanael. We don't know a lot about these guys because they are not often mentioned in the rest of the book of John. Early Church history legends say that, after Jesus' death and resurrection, Nate and Phil traveled abroad to share Jesus' good news and were finally killed for their faith. So, chances are they remained followers. But were they exactly like Jesus? Nope.
How then does God work in you and me? Thats' what we'll delve into this week.

You'll also note a theme popping up in the message this week that we'll start developing through Lent and Easter - the Heart. Having a new Heart is at the core of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. No matter how I try to do things right and keep the "rules" of the faith, I can't. I need a change of heart. That's the key for a disciple, I'm convinced. This week I started listening to a daily podcast that's simply some guy with a raspy voice reading the Proverbs. Over and over Proverbs talks about Wisdom, God and having a new Heart. Ezekiel 36:26. More on that later. I hope your new year is off to a meaningful start.
- Curtis

A Walk Instead of a Sermon

2008-12-21T16:40:00.001-08:00

The "video sermon" above is 10 minutes. That's closer to what some Cedar Hills Baptist folks would like to hear on Sunday morning. But since we didn't get to worship together today I went for a walk and recorded some thoughts about the birth of Jesus and what it's all about. Or a tiny bit of what it's about.
Also, the song at the end has great lyrics that you were going to see on the screen in worship today. Instead they're here below. It's a song by RelientK which they wrote about CS Lewis' The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe.
I hope we get to worship together for Christmas Eve (6 PM)!

"In Like A Lion (Always Winter)"

It's always nice to look out the window
And see those very first few flakes of snow
And later on we can go outside
And create the impression of an angel that just fell from the sky

When February rolls around I'll roll my eyes
Turn a cold shoulder to these even colder skies
And by the fire my heart it heaves a sigh
For the green grass waiting on the other side

It's always winter but never Christmas
It seems this curse just can't be lifted
Yet in the midst of all this ice and snow
Our hearts stay warm cause they are filled with hope

It'd be so nice to look out the window
And see the leaves on the trees begin to show
The birds would congregate and sing
A song of birth a song of newer things

The wind would calm and the sun would shine
I'd go outside and I'd squint my eyes
But for now I will simply just withdraw
Sit here and wish for this world to thaw

And everything it changed overnight
This dying world you brought it back to life
And deep inside I felt things
Shifting everything was melting
Away oh away
And you gave us the most beautiful of days

Cause when it's always winter but never Christmas
Sometimes it feels like you're not with us
But deep inside our hearts we know
That you are here and we will not lose hope

Joy, Joy, Joy

2008-12-19T12:23:00.000-08:00

Christmas Sunday
I feel terribly torn. The kids have been off of school, the snow is falling, and I've got things to do. Not too deep inside this 48 year old corpus of mine is a child raging to get out and play in the snow, sled down the hill, and probably break something. I've indulged that child a couple of times this week, but alas, my kids are now too old to think it's much fun to play with dad. Then there's the problem of what to do about all the plans for church this weekend. I know we'll get the stuff together for the 15 families we're helping through Christmas Boxes of Love. But what about the worship service, the kid's Drama ... Christmas Sunday! Will there be ice, and will the abominable snow man show up and squelch our best plans? Time will tell.

I hope you've had a good week. I doubt it's been overly productive and perhaps that's good. This week, the coldest spell we've seen here in Beaverton in 30 years, is a good time to take care of what's needed, but then to just be a kid. That's my take on it. I hope we can gather for worship this Sunday. I hope you make time to help pack Boxes of Love on Saturday morning and deliver them Saturday or Sunday (we DO still need several people who want to deliver and this is the most fun you will have this week, I guarantee you). But even if the snow and ice descend, make sure to stop, look up into the sky with flakes falling, and thank God for this life, for his goodness, for sending Jesus into our world long, long ago.

Making a Way

2008-12-05T10:06:00.000-08:00

Isaiah 40:1-11
It's supposed to be easy for me. I'm a pastor, after all. It's what we do, right - talk to people about God; help people to discover that God is real and present for them. And sometimes it is easier.
I remember a Christmas party many years ago, that we attended for Ana's work in San Francisco. One of Ana's co-workers came up to me and said, "You're in the ministry right?" "Yes," I replied. "Well, I have a lot of questions about Jeremiah. I've never read the bible before, but I started reading Jeremiah, and I don't get it. Explain it to me." And so, right there in the middle of Christmas cheer, we had an hour long discussion about Jeremiah - not one of the simplest books to begin with, but that's where she was. If it were a scene from a movie, this story would end with a group of people gathering around while I waxed eloquently with deep wisdom from the scriptures and charming humor. No movie ending here. She asked lots of questions, some of which stumped me, and anyone that happened to listen in for a few minutes would wander quietly off. But this woman was truly hungry for God.
It doesn't often happen like that, especially at events where people don't know what I do. Normally it goes something like this...
(New acquaintance): "What do you do for a living?"
(Me): "I'm the pastor of a church."
(NA): "Oh."
Sudden awkward silence as the new acquaintance works through confusion about what "pastor" means, fear of impending spiritual attack, and sudden self-consciousness of the drink they are holding.
Such interactions used to bother me. I felt like a spiritual leper. But now I see them as an enjoyable challenge. What can I do to break through the pastor's stereotype and strike up a conversation? What I've found is that most people will bring the talk back to something about God if they find that I'm not going to pounce on them. They really do want to know about godly things, they just don't want to be assaulted.
Perhaps you experience the same sort of thing when people find out you are a Christian, or that you go to church. This week's passage in Isaiah 40 was the one that Luke interpreted as talking about John the Baptist's work to prepare people for Jesus' arrival. John the B was sent to "prepare the way" for the Messiah. This Sunday we'll look at how these old words might apply to our relationships with others - how we can level things out for people to know God. We'll talk about what Isaiah says, what John the B did, and how that might look in our lives today.
- Curtis

Thanks With a Purpose

2008-11-21T16:46:00.000-08:00

Ephesians 1:15-23
Unemployment up.
Banks going down.
Fear that this is only the beginning.
At first glance this seems like a time when people don't have as much to give thanks for. I think, though, the opposite is true. When we have less stuff, our thanksgiving comes from a deeper place. We remember that stuff is worthless compared to people. A deposit of self into a true friendship is infinitely safer than a checking account. Eternal deposits are never limited to money.
Maybe Jesus was onto something when he said, "Don't store up treasures on earth where the Dow can sink 46% in eleven months, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven..." (my paraphrase). And maybe Paul was also on target by beginning almost every letter he ever wrote with a prayer of thanks - often for people, even pain in the butt people, for whom God had given him responsibility. Imagine how our relationships would change if, each time we were about to complain about someone, we first gave thanks for that person.

Hmm, I might just try that.

Well, that's not really the exact direction the sermon is heading this week, but what else is new?
My beautiful oldest daughter is coming home from college tonight for the Thanksgiving break and I'm excited to see her and find out how she's changed since going away for school. Time to make an investment. - Curtis

Those Who Have Hope

2008-11-14T10:44:00.000-08:00

Found This Book Episode 1great free widgetsWidgetbox

Click the "play button" for Left Behind promo...

1 Thessalonians 4

A few years back (1995), the first book in the series, Left Behind, was published. They sold about a gazillion books. I don't remember how many there were (14?), but I read two or three to see what all of the stir was about. The books focused on "the rapture." All the Christians in the world were beamed up to heaven in a flash, leaving a bunch of poor saps wandering around on earth with the Antichrist. I enjoyed the first book as titillating, if not well-written, fiction. At the end of the 2nd one I started to feel sick. I fizzled out somewhere in the third book, I think. What bugged me was that the characters were all narcissists.

You really can't blame God for leaving them behind.

Beyond that, I began to realize that I was getting sucked into the shallow theology. "Could this stuff be right?? Hmmm." It is a theology that looks joyfully forward to the evil decay of our world. Even though the books are written as fiction, they invite the reader to start viewing the world from a fatalistic place - but with a great, gleeful, "I know a secret that you don't know" perspective. As if the best way to view our world is, "Wars? Global warming? Terrorism? Hunger & hate? GREAT! Bring it on! Then Jesus will come! Niener, Neiner!" It's all very exciting and sells books.

It also teaches people bad theology.

Think I'm exaggerating? Check out the video at the top of this post, from a recent promo site for the book - (or click here - there's a second "episode" too).
The authors are also writing a new slew of books as well. I think they could accurately be labeled, "fictoprohecy."

Is this the best we Christians can do with the world in it's current shape? More importantly, is that what our Bible teaches us? Hardly. What happened to "salt & light?" Yet this very letter we are studying this week, 1 Thessalonians (4:13-5:11), is one that rapturists point to and say, "Look here - see??!"

I think we miss the point of most passages that talk about Jesus' return (and where did we ever get the phrase "2nd Coming" - he already came back a few times after the resurrection - so we have to be looking at at least his 7th coming by now). Jesus and Paul both seem to focus on how to live now, not when Christ will return or how we should be freaking out with glee when things get bad. And the Bible speaks of Jesus' return, not mainly in terms of destruction, but as a grand re-creation and restoration. Yes, evil will be wiped out at last. Justice will be done. There will be a judgment. And all things will be made right. Finally. But when it comes and what it looks like -who knows?

The words of all the OT prophets, of Jesus, Paul and John all point in one direction: Turn to God now while there is time; live justly; be ready; forgive; remember God is in control; share the Gospel; love God and one another.
We are to be a people who live with hope in a physical resurrection. - Curtis

American Idols

2008-11-07T08:52:00.000-08:00

What would it be like if we really handled things the way the Old Testament tells us to? Take idols for instance - anything that becomes a god for us instead of The God. We live in a pluralistic society where people worship all sorts of things and come from all kinds of faith traditions. Most of us have family members, perhaps under our own roof, who don't share our Christian faith. Should we follow the Old Testament law about how to deal with them? Deuteronomy 13:6-11 gives this guidance:

If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.

Ouch! Today that would mean 25 million teens and tweens who watch a tired American Idol would be stoned in ways they aren't already!
Most of us prefer, "Love your neighbor" and we hope people from other faiths do too.
The truth is, there's a lot of historical and cultural context that must be understood when reading passages like that. But perhaps the core truth we can still take away is that God takes our worship, love and service of him VERY seriously. Nothing else is to get in the way. And yet, all too often, everything else gets in the way. Idols abound, especially in the land of plenty. In times of economic trouble, one of the big blessings that might come is a return to God as God. Having the plenty stripped away, even in part, leads to a potential revelation of what idols we have been serving - and who God really is. - Curtis

Simple Greatness

2008-10-31T10:47:00.000-07:00

Matthew 23

If anyone ever tells you that the Jesus of the Bible is too mamby-pamby for their liking, have them read Matthew 23. There Jesus lays into the Pharisees, a very pious and dedicated religious group, more than he ever nailed any other group. He calls them "white-washed tombs...hyprocrites (6 times)...blind guides...a brood of vipers." This isn't the same guy who's having PBJ's with little American kids on my children's bible, is it? It's revealing that Jesus saved his harshest words, not for those who were far from God, but those who seemed to be the closest - religious people.

What might that say to us? What do you suppose Jesus would say about the ways we seek to follow God? What sorts of holy habits do we have that would irk him? We'll discuss how Jesus' warnings to the Pharisees can help us to have a more genuine faith that impacts our community and world.
Remember to VOTE!
- Curtis

Deposits Insured

2008-10-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

Psalm 90
You remember Chicken Little. Stupid chicken. She thought the sky was falling because an acorn fell on her head. She convinces every other critter she knows that the sky is falling and they all go to tell the King who, apparently, they think is too dumb to notice the imminent end of the world himself. Foxy Woxy (or Loxy, depending on the version of the story) comes along and nearly eats all of them (a metaphor for corporate takeover?). I sort of wish he had eaten CL. A tasty little fried chicken nugget. Is that wrong?

Well, anyway... it's more than an acorn that's been falling lately in the world economy. It has hit everyone and there is a sense that this might just be the beginning. A family member lost their home in California already. I have a friend who is on the verge of losing his formerly very successful business. He's laid off all of his employees, cut his own pay to bare-bones, and brought his daughter home from OSU to attend PSU and work to contribute to the family. In our neighborhood we've seen the calls for help with utility bills and rent go from one every couple of weeks to almost daily now.

Is the sky falling? Who knows. But a bit of perspective is in order. Most of us still have jobs, homes, cars, toasters and pop-tarts. Maybe even 401Ks and nest-eggs, though they've become significantly smaller. The truth is, we've lost some our abundance, while others are losing much more. [How rich are you? Find out here] We don't yet have a clear idea of how a global downturn will impact poor nations who rely on the American economic engine, money sent back to home countries, and richer governments who cease to provide aid and debt forgiveness.

So what's our response as Christians? Do we hunker down and protect? Do we look for ways to help? Do we temper our generosity with caution? I assume we help those who need help. Responsibly, of course. But what I've noticed just this month is that people who are hurting are not only looking for tangible help, they're looking for someone who will simply listen to them. I confess I don't always want to listen; I grow callous and suspicious; I wonder if I'm being manipulated; I ... have to stop and pray. Pray for wisdom, for the mind of Christ, and the compassion of Jesus. Then I can start to respond constructively.
How about it? What can we do for each other, for those who need our support and help? I don't think the sky is falling, but there aren't as many acorns on the tree as there used to be. That might be a good thing in the long run.
Check out this site - Mustard Seed Associates - for some creative ideas others have come up with.
- Curtis

Faith in Action Sunday!

2008-10-17T11:23:00.001-07:00

What are you doing here?
Get on over to the Faith in Action blog (click here) for the news!
See you here next week - Curtis

Seeds

2008-10-10T13:27:00.000-07:00

As you do not know the path of the wind,
or how the body is formed in a mother's womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things.

Sow your seed in the morning,
and at evening let not your hands be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
whether this or that,
or whether both will do equally well.
- Ecclesiastes 11:5-7

I never knew my grandfather on my mom's side. He died of a massive stroke several years before I was born. But I secretly think there is a part of him that lives inside me. He was a farmer his whole life. When he married my grandmother, he drove her home in a horse-pulled buggy to a farm he purchased for them to tend. Over the years, through the Great Depression, he slowly added acres and acres of land to his farm. I believe he had over 1000 acres near Archie Missouri, just South of Kansas City. The farm stayed in the family until just a few years ago when my aunts were forced to sell it. But I have warm memories of Christmas at the farm. My mom's childhood was filled with summers working in the fields of corn and watermelons. "On a hot, still day, you could hear the corn crackle as it grew" she'll tell. "We would sneak into the watermelon field and break them open, just eating the sweet 'hearts' because there were so many growing."

When I was young and growing up in California, mom would plant the biggest garden most city-folk had ever seen - about 1/4 acre of flowers and strawberries, and another 1/4 acre of all sorts of vegetables (we lived in a very rural area south of San Francisco). I had to do my part to weed and water each day before I could do anything else. I hated it, but now I find myself wishing I could start such a mini-farm. Perhaps it is in our blood somehow. There's something inside me too, that wants to connect with my Grandfather; I sense I know something about him when I smell a tomato leaf or pick a squash I've grown. The smell of a tomato plant after it has been watered is the aroma of creation. How can it be? -- watch a plant pop up, soak up sun and water and nutrients and grow. We do so little, and God does so much with those tiny efforts. Wow.

Generous Houston gave me a couple of cucumber seedlings earlier this Summer. I built a garden box, about 8' X 6' and planted the cukes. One died quickly. The other didn't grow huge vines for some reason, but it started to crank out cucumbers anyway, and just recently quit. I think we enjoyed about 10 or more big, fresh cucumbers from this one, somewhat stunted, plant. Cucumbers or zucchini are spectacular because you can look at them in the morning and yet by evening they will have grown a couple of inches. Miraculous!
Root, leaf, vine, fruit - gifts . . . from tiny seeds.
"Praise God from whom all things flow."

It's no wonder Jesus used such inexplicable, miraculous kinds of events to describe his Kingdom. "The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed..." He told parables about seeds, cursed a fig tree that failed to produce fruit, and taught from God's word as he strolled through grain fields. There is a profound lesson that comes from seemingly dead seeds and the startling potential that lies within each one. Each seed seems to whisper, "Don't you understand? If God can do this with me, what could he do with a grand creation like you?"
- Curtis

The Lens Crafter

2008-10-04T09:29:00.000-07:00

Luke 4:14-21
About 3 months ago, we were fortunate enough to be able buy a new Honda Civic. A 5-speed, which I really enjoy driving, much to my middle daughter Becca 's dismay (she just turned 16 and hasn't quite mastered a manual transmission). It's sort of a charcoal grey and is a lot of fun.
Almost immediately, however, I noticed that the number of charcoal grey Honda Civics just like mine exploded. Whereas before, I almost never saw these Civics, now they were in parking lots, on highways, even in my neighborhood. How could this be? I pondered: Am I a trendsetter who could change the buying habits of an entire metropolitan area almost overnight?
If my hunch was correct, people need to know.
So I called Honda headquarters telling them, "I, Curtis Buthe, am a one-man marketing machine. Because of my Civic purchase, there are now dozens, perhaps hundreds or even thousands of grey charcoal Honda Civics on the road." I could tell by the silence on the other end that the guy was intrigued. I suggested that perhaps they could test my marketing-engine horsepower by presenting me with a blue convertible Honda S2000 (MSRP $37,000), for advertising research purposes only, of course . At that point, we were somehow disconnected. I called back and got voice-mail.

Since then, a few people have told me about similar experiences. Not with Honda, but with the sense of suddenly noticing that everyone seems to have whatever new thing they acquire. One friend said that when they wore a Duck's hat, they suddenly noticed a lot of other Duck's hats. He went so far as to suggest that my perception is what changed, not the fact that more people actually have Honda Civics. In other words these friends don't actually believe that I am a trendsetter, but (get this) they simply think that I've started to notice more charcoal grey Honda Civics on the road because I purchased one. Ha!

Idiots.

If this lame idea were true - that what I see and notice around me changes depending on what I have or what I value - then that could have huge ramifications for how I see the world around me, and even impact how I live. Sort of like putting on a different pair of glasses with which to view the world. For instance, if I were to ask God to help me see the world through compassionate lenses, then I would notice ways to care for people.
If I ask God to help me see the world through a lens of those in poverty, I might use my resources differently.
If I ask God to help me see people as he sees them, then . . .
Hmm.
Naa . . . can't be.
I'm going for a drive.
- Curtis

Passages

2008-09-18T23:42:00.000-07:00

This week I don't have anything to write about the sermon because I'm on road to California. As many of you know our oldest daughter, Amanda, is starting college at Santa Clara University. Amanda and I are driving my quite-stuffed Civic, and Ana will fly down this evening after she gets off work. I'm grateful to Gavin Silaski for preaching this Sunday!
Well, I thought I'd write just a bit about this very odd experience of taking my first child off to college. It is proving to be much more difficult than I ever thought it would be. It's an exciting time for Amanda and for us as well. But she's really leaving and that's hitting home like an arrow in my heart. I'm not ready for this passage, but here it is.
The drive down was not what I expected. I anticipated some chit-chat but also a lot of just driving and listening to music. Earlier in the week I informed Amanda that the 11 hour drive would be my last chance to deliver an 11 hour sermon of fatherly wisdom to her. Instead, after we packed (and I mean packed) the car, we started talking about all sorts of things. About an hour into the drive, near Salem, she pulled out a book by Donald Miller, Searching for God Knows What, and started to read. If you're not familiar with Miller, read something of his for find one of his podcasts on iTunes. He's a gifted rambling writer and speaker from Portland. His books aren't technically theology, but in fact, they are filled with profound theologicial insights as Miller writes about his life and relationship with God.
As Amanda read, she would laugh about something Miller said and then read that paragraph or so to me. We'd talk about it, and then she'd read some more silently. About a half an hour of such good exchanges passed, when she announced, "I'm just going to read it out loud." And so, for the next 4 hours or so, she read a chapter and then we'd talk about it together; and she'd read another. We talked about God and friends and faith and El Salvador and how she wants to go back to stay and work with Alex there for a summer.
As we passed over the Siskiyou summit into California, it became clearer than ever to me that my little girl was not a little girl at all anymore - that this drive is my last chance to ferry her somewhere as a child and the first time I accompany her as an adult. Her thoughts, her ideas, her dreams and her faith are now fully hers. It is a wonderful passage and a terribly painful one as well.

We stayed in a little town aptly named "Weed" last night and we'll finish the drive today, staying at my mom's in Mountain View tonight. Amanda moves into the dorm at 8:30 AM tomorrow and they have a program for the parents that continues through 1 PM Sunday. The conclusion is a Mass for departing parents that Ana has dubbed "The Crying Mass." Ana and I will visit her family near Sacramento Sunday afternoon and return home on Monday.
- Curtis

Life Together

2008-09-05T14:37:00.000-07:00

It is the fellowship of the Cross to experience the burden of the other. If one does not experience it, the fellowship he belongs to is not Christian. If any member refuses to bear that burden, he denies the law of Christ. - said by the guy to the left, in his book, Life Together.

Back when I laid the initial pipes for this message I picked up a copy of Dietrich Bonhoefferr's book, Life Together. It seemed to me that Romans 12 is about how Christians are to live this new life in Christ, with each other. Paul's words aren't full of a lot of mystery, just clear instruction about how to treat each other now that our lives are "living sacrifices." The foundation of life together is put simply by Paul, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" - vs 2. The rest of the chapter suggests what this transformed life looks like - together.
So I've been reading Life Together for the first time since seminary days. It's like reading something from another planet. What Bonhoeffer talks about is so unfamiliar to me and American Christianity (for the most part) that I don't even know how to go about doing what he says. He says that a believer's focus should be so fully on Christ alone that nothing else really can move us or shake us up at all. He writes that most of our desires regarding what Church should be like are poisonous "wish-dreams" that destroy fellowship and the Church. He talks about reading the Bible together as a family every morning before the day gets moving. Lots of the Bible - chapters of it together. Then, sing a few hymns with your kids around the corn flakes. On pg 60 he rips into bad singing in church. I liked that part, though I'm not a good singer. He advocates lots of alone time for prayer, meditation, and being with God. And finally he talks about ministry, not in terms of "success" and "goals" being accomplished, but in terms of meekness, humility, "holding one's tongue" and being simply "helpful" to others.
What century did this guy live in?! Oh, wait, that's right - he lived during the first half of the last century; formed an underground seminary community where people actually lived out all of these Biblical ideals; was executed at 39 yrs of age because he had the courage to stand for his convictions.
So the sermon has, as usual, been difficult because the way I actually live, and the way I suspect most of us live, is so disparate from the way the bible intends us to live. I think the reason that Romans 12 doesn't shock me as much as Life Together is simply because I get used to reading what the bible has to say and I become numb to its teaching. The Spirit tries to blast through my spiritual deafness, but it doesn't always happen too well.
So in the message this week I'm going to invite people to think of Paul's words from a bit of a different angle - a cafe' parable, in a sense. But if you don't mind slightly slow reading, check out Bonhoeffer's stuff. We would do well to make our church, and The Church, a lot more like his Life Together. - Curtis

For Sunday, August 24 - Getting the Keys!

2008-08-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

Matthew 16:13-30
Time to get back in the sermon saddle this week. It's been good to take a break while on vacation and I'm quite thankful that we have such good folks to preach while I'm away - like Everett Curry and Peter Clay. Several people have said how good their sermons were. Our first week of vacation was fun time with family - camping near Mt. Shasta at Lake Siskiyou. Warm water, swimming, basking in a windy sun, campfires and smores at night. The kids read a ton, I swam a fair amount, and it was generally a quiet time with Ana's family. The second week was sort of vacation, sort of work as I got ready for the El Salvador mission report in worship and the Community BBQ in 100+ degree weather. Now, back to reality...
This week we're taking a look at the back side of a familiar story. Jesus asks, "What are the people saying about me - who do they think I am?" And after a bit of chit-chat, Peter pipes in, "You're the Messiah, the Son of the Living God." Good answer! (applause). That's what we normally focus on when we look at this passage and, indeed, that's the focal point here. But on the backside of discussion, Jesus makes a statement that has three (insert sermon points here) key parts to it. He makes statements that have perplexed theologians and thinkers ever since:
1. "On this rock I will build my church"
2. "The gates of Hades will not overcome it"
3. "I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven"
My head's been swimming with all of the opinions I've read about each of these statements this week. The least controversial is #2, the most is #1. The most ignored is #3. Jesus only bothers to give an explanation to #3, but even those words are open to wide interpretation. If you'd like to chime in with your thoughts about these, go for it! I value your comments. Check out the question too - I may use replies in my sermon intro. I have a good memory from my youth I'll be sharing as the sermon intro.

Vacation Time!

2008-08-01T15:43:00.000-07:00

Matthew 9
Crowds of Sinners, by Dr. Everett Curry

It has been quite a week around the Buthe home. A good one, overall, in fact.
Last Monday night, near midnight our church mission team from El Salvador returned home. They were tired and a few were a bit worse for wear, but it appears to have been a good trip. Some stomachs remain in recovery. Ana (my wife) and our three daughters were part of the twelve person team. For Amanda (our 18 yr old) it was her third trip. She says it was the best yet, and our other two daughters loved it equally well. It was our church's fifth trip since 2001, and the first time I have not gone. In total, 26 people from Cedar Hills have now traveled to our sister church, Shekina Baptist in Santa Ana, El Salvador.
Most of the next couple of days for my girls was spent recounting all of their adventures and sharing dozens of pictures and memories. They have informed me that, if I take a sabbatical, it had better include a significant amount of time for the whole family in El Salvador. They recommend a month. We'll see how that goes. The wonderful thing for me was simply witnessing their joy and a shift, at least for now, in how they see the world and what is most important. We'll be working on a report to the church of the trip from the entire group which will take place on Sunday, August 17th in worship. Stay tuned!
Along with the normal visits and Kids Summer Fun responsibilities of the week, I have a wedding this weekend. It has been a joy to work on in many ways. The groom has waited 10 years to marry his special bride - for she required that her children be grown and on their own before she would remarry. He waited. And so their wedding will be a sweet beginning to a new life together.
Just to make things more interesting for me, I had a dental appt today at 1 PM. A couple of months ago I found out that I had a deep cavity in an old wisdom tooth (a hole in my wisdom), and the dentist said it was so deep that it would likely either need a root canal, or that it might just be best to yank the sucker. Since it was an especially deep cavity that shouldn't wait too long, they scheduled me 2.5 months out - August 23. After bugging them, they moved it to today. Ana thought I was nuts for scheduling it the same day as the aforementioned wedding rehearsal, but I thought, "Hey, what's the worst that can happen? They pull it and I swell? I'm already got a big fat tumor on that side of my face - who's gonna notice a bit more puff?" However, I wasn't looking forward to 1 PM today. It did occur to me, though, that a richer prayer life is often a spiritual side effect of fear.
Anyway.. it is true that testy tooth is on the same side as my tumor and I've had some nasty complications with previous dental work on that side (let's just say that hearing your dental surgeon say "Uh-oh, we have a problem!" when he pulls a tooth can be a bit disconcerting). But God is good. After numbing me up and drilling away, my good dentist, Mimi, said, "I think we'll be able to simply do a filling and hope that the tooth can be saved." Amen, I said. And so, 45 minutes later, I was out of there and my anxiety was significantly lowered.
I'm back to wedding message writing and getting things tidied up before vacation. We're heading down near Lake Shasta to meet up with Ana's brother and his family for about a week of camping, swimming, and hopefully a river-raft trip with our clan. It should be interesting and, I hope, fun. I always feel like God is a bit more visible in the midst of mountains and lakes.
I'm deeply grateful for people like Everett Curry and Peter Clay who will be preaching while I'm away. They always offer fresh perspectives on life and God's Word. We are fortunate to have their leadership.
Grace,
Curtis

For Sunday, July 20 - Moving to Higher Ground

2008-07-18T13:03:00.000-07:00

Genesis 28:10-22

The team of 12 CHBCers going to El Salvador leaves on Sunday morning about 10:30. They'll get into Santa Ana, after the flight and drive, by about 11 that night. It will be a long day of travel. By the time they get back, it will all have seemed like a dream. You've had trips like that, haven't you? You go through a grand adventure, and the next thing you know, it's over and feels like it never happened - or was just a dream.
I had a dream this week just before we came back from our trip to California for college orientation. In my dream, I came back to work and instantly had a memorial service to perform (it wasn't anyone in the church, in case you're worried it was you). I got to the memorial service and I wasn't dressed for it, I didn't have anything prepared to say, and I just couldn't understand how I had to do this so soon after vacation. Such are the warped nightmares of pastors. I woke up about 5 AM in the middle of the dream and then every time I went back to sleep it started again - this went on for about 2 hours until I got up. Thankfully, no one has died this week. Yet.
Jacob is one strange guy in the scriptures. He's sort of a creep for much of his life. Manipulative and selfish; always working on an angle to get what he wants. And yet God chooses him to be one of the key fathers of the People of Israel. Go figure. Or maybe that's the point. God chooses who he wants to choose and he can change any garden-variety creep he wants. In the Genesis 28 story, Jacob has this amazing dream (how does he manage to sleep with a rock as a pillow?) - and the focal point of the dream is a ladder that connects heaven and earth. Apparently these were the angels who didn't yet have their wings so they needed a ladder to go up and down. Or maybe it's a spiritual point God is making to Jacob! Perhaps the point is that... oh wait! I don't want to give that away. Come to worship for my 2-cent's worth.
Your ideas? - Curtis